Harry Potter and the Search for the Hidden Souls
by EveningSongEnchantment
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione must find the horcruxes before it is too late and Lord Voldemort rules the world. And destroys all they love and hold dear. Can they do it? Despite the obstacles that lie in their path? Find out!
1. Chapter 1: One Last Time

**A/N: Okay people out there reading this. I'm new to this so don't be real hard on me. I don't even have to hang of my account yet; I'm just looking at what other authors do and try it out. So here's an attempted disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I am NOT the infamous J.K. Rowling and never will be. This story is of her world and is about the characters she created.**

**sigh I suppose I'll just have to live with the disappointment of never seeing this book in stores. But your reviews are worth more to me than money so send 'em on!**

**Please give this story a try. The first chapter may be short and bad, but it gets better! I promise you. **

**Chapter 1: One Last Time**

Harry Potter sat on his bed thinking of what the next step was. He had come back to Privet Drive and had stayed a week so far. He planned to be leaving for the Burrow tomorrow. Once there he would, for the first time, experience a wedding. Bill and Fleur's wedding. He had packed up all his belongings and had put Hedwig, his snowy owl in her cage.

His thoughts turned to his quest and of how he would achieve it. Voldemort still had three, maybe four horcruxes out there somewhere; and Harry was determined to find them. He kept reciting their names to himself in his head, as if thinking about them would bring them to him: _the locket, the cup, the snake, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's… the locket, the cup, the snake, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's…_

They were still not sure if the locket had been destroyed by the mysterious R.A.B. who had vowed to '_destroy it as soon as I can_'. It was Ron and Hermione's job to find out who R.A.B. might be or might have been. Harry was to go over the memories he had seen with Dumbledore in the Pensieve to try and figure out where the horcuxes might be hidden. No such domains had come to mind.

Harry gave a frustrated sigh and lay down. He thought of all the people who had died or suffered because of Voldemort. Of his parents, the original Order members, Sirius, and Dumbledore. He thought of Frank and Alice Longbottom, and how they were tortured by Bellatix Lestrange to insanity. Then his thoughts wandered to Cedric Diggory, who had died most unfairly at the hands of Wormtail, one of Voldemort's Death Eaters. Then he thought of Mr. Ollivander and the others who were missing. He also thought of all those people who had lost family members to the Second War; and the First War for that matter. There were also all the innocent muggles to take into account too.

Harry clenched his fists and vowed to make sure that no one would have to suffer the same horrible fates again. Then he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Harry woke up in the morning and stretched. Today was the day. Today was the day that he would leave Privet Drive forever. He wouldn't miss it of course. It had never given him much comfort to be here; even if his only family left lived there. The Dursleys had hated Harry to the point that Harry wondered why they took him in. They would not be saddened at the fact that their nephew would be leaving them forever. As for Dudley, their plump and piggy son, he would never again be terrorized by the fact that Harry was a wizard and could now, since he was of age in the wizarding world, use magic on him.

Harry went down to breakfast with a joyful attitude that baffled the Dursleys. Never had they seen the boy so cheerful.

"And what are you so happy about today?" Uncle Vernon asked him gruffly .

"You won't have to worry about how I feel anymore. Since I'm leaving for good that is," said Harry.

Uncle Vernon choked in his coffee. Aunt Petunia gagged on her half-swallowed piece of bacon. Dudley sat there and looked dumbfounded.

"You're leaving?" asked Aunt Petunia

"Yeah, and I don't intend to come back," answered Harry.

Silence followed Harry's statement.

"Well good riddance!" yelled Uncle Vernon, "You've been nothing but trouble ever since you got here." He rubbed his hands together greedily, "And now I can finally get some peace around here."

Aunt Petunia and Dudley sat there and didn't say anything. Harry got up and prepared to leave the house forever.

"Wait!" A voice cried from the table. Harry turned and saw that it was Aunt Petunia that had spoken.

"Can I have a word with you Harry?" She said. Harry was bewildered. He had thought that she would have been delighted to be rid of him. Just like Uncle Vernon. But there she was standing there with an unreadable expression on her face and insisting that she needed to talk to him? This was a very abnormal Aunt Petunia.

"But," spluttered Uncle Vernon, "But Petunia dear! You aren't going to try to convince him to stay are you?"

Aunt Petunia was silent and just watched Harry for his response.

"You can't! Look at all the trouble he's caused us over all the years!"

By this time Harry had recovered and looked Aunt Petunia directly in the face.

"Alright."

"Good, we'll go into your room." She turned and went up the stairs and waited for him on the landing. Uncle Vernon stared at her open mouthed.

"But…"

But he didn't get to finish whatever he was going to say; for Aunt Petunia turned on her heel and marched into Harry's room. Harry followed her. When he got in there he turned and closed the door with a snap.

"Now," he said, sitting on the bed and staring at her, "What's this all about?"

Aunt Petunia hesitated, and then took a deep breath.

"I wanted to tell you," said Aunt Petunia, she paused and took another deep breath, as if to reassure herself. "I wanted to tell you why I hated you mother so much."

Harry sat there, lost in thought. He had been told his Aunt hated her sister because she had become a freak. What else was there to tell?

"I hated Lily because we were best friends before she left." Harry raised his eyebrows at this but managed to keep the rest of his surprised emotions from showing.

"We did everything together, happy as can be. But then that letter came. When she got her letter saying she was going to go to a school to learn magic I knew then and there we were going to be separated. I told her not to accept, to stay here with me. But she refused and said it was the chance of a life time. So, she left to go to Hogwarts. When she did she left me all alone." Aunt Petunia's face contorted a little, but she sighed and continued, "She would no longer be there to comfort me when I was in trouble. No longer would she be there to stick up for me when the other kids at school teased me and called me names. She had left me all alone to go and do something for her selfish reasons, not even thinking about me. So when she came home for her first holiday after attending that school I showed her nothing but contempt. She didn't brag about her abilities to do magic, oh no, she wasn't that type of person. But she did notice my distance to her and confronted me. I told her my feelings, and then she got angry with me. 'You're the selfish one! Just because I got the chance to actually do something for myself when I'm always looking after you and doing what you want you stop talking to me and don't even pay attention to me. What kind of a sister is that? What kind of a friend is that! Can't I have my own life?' And with that she stormed out of the room and we never really made up again. She would come home for the holidays but neither of us spoke too much to each other. We both knew we should apologize to each other but we were both too stubborn to do so. So, we grew up and apart. And when she was murdered I felt guilty that I hadn't said anything to her. So there you were, on our doorstep with the note that that man wrote. So the least I could do was take you in. But I still hated her and decided her son would be no better. And now you are leaving and I resolved to tell you this."

A long silence followed Aunt Petunia's story. Harry had no idea that Petunia had cared so much about his mother. Aunt Petunia got up and went to the door.

"Thank you," Harry said softly, his eyes on the floor.

"It was the least I could do Harry," Aunt Petunia said gently her eyes full of sorrow. "You deserved it."

Then she closed the door behind her and left him to get the rest of his things and go.

Harry's mind was spinning with the information she had just given him. He got up, put the rest of his belongings into his trunk and rolled it down the stairs to the living room. To his surprise he found all three of the Dursleys there waiting. Aunt Petunia must have made them come to say good-bye.

"Well, so long," Harry said with a significant look at Aunt Petunia. She nodded and watched as her nephew took out a pouch full of some kind of powder and threw a pinch of it into the fire. He stepped in it and with one last look at the Dursleys said "The Burrow!" The next second he was gone. He had vanished in a swirl of green flame.

A/N: **So. There we go! First installment of my story is now up. What did you all think? Criticism is as good as praise! I'm a new writer and need to learn. Send on your thoughts! **

**- EveningSongEnchantment **


	2. Chapter 2: The Burrow Again

**Disclaimer: I am not the famous J.K. Rowling, sadly enough. This fan fic is based on her brilliant Harry Potter Series which I know and love. **

**Acknowledgements: To my first reviewer, B.R. Wells – Thanks for the advise. I adjusted the first chapter to make it more interesting. **

**I'd also like to thank the people who read the fic before it went on the internet. To Hannah, Deanna, Andrea, and James. To my sister Julia too I suppose. Thanks for your support guys! They're the ones who suggested I put it on the site and so I have now. **

**- EveningSongEnchantment**

**Chapter 2: The Burrow Again**

Harry felt the familiar sensation of Flooing to another location. His arms were pinned to his side as he spinned around and around. Then, all in one instant he found himself looking out of the fireplace in the Weasley's kitchen.

"Harry!" A voice screeched. It was Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends and closest companions. Behind her was a grinning Ron and a delighted Ginny.

"Welcome back mate!" Ron cried as he pulled Harry into a hug with Hermione. "The preparations for the wedding are almost done. All we have to do is decorate the yard." The Weasley's oldest son, Bill, was getting married on Saturday, tomorrow. He would be wed to his beautiful bride Fleur Delacour, who had been a Champion competing against Harry in the Triwizard Tournament three years ago. Mrs. Wealsey must have heard the noise because she tromping into the kitchen laden with decorations for the back lawn where the wedding would be held.

"Harry! Oh are you alright dear? Nothing happened I hope. Did you get any breakfast this morning?" She asked him questions like this while she pushed him into a chair at the table.

"I'm okay Mrs. Wealsey," He said, "honestly."

"Well then, bring your things up to Ron's room. Fred and George's room is going to be for Bill and Fleur." She gave a happy sigh as she said their names. She couldn't believe that her oldest son was actually getting married.

"We'll help you with your stuff Harry," Ron said and took a hold of Harry's trunk. Hermione picked up Hedwig and let her out of her cage. Grateful to be out and stretch her wings, the owl gave an appreciative hoot and took off out the window. The trio and Ginny tramped up the stairs. When they got to Ron's room Harry noticed it now had three beds. It seemed that Hermione would be sleeping with them.

"Ginny!" Came the call of Mrs. Weasley, "Come and help me will you?"

A reluctant Ginny gave an apologetic look at Harry, swept out the door and cried "Coming!"

Harry wasn't the least bit disappointed to see her leave. He was eager to know what the other two had found for their quest. Ron walked over and shut the door immediately.

"So?" Harry said expectantly, "What did you find?"

"Nothing really," Hermione replied, "We just looked into the names of those two wizards but didn't find anything. Like I said before, they just aren't the right type."

"How about you Harry? Did you think of anything?" Ron asked eagerly.

"I think that Voldemort's old orphanage may be the location of one of the horcruxes. I don't know. We'll probably do better research when we're together. Do you guys think that Gryffindor's sword might be one?"

"It's possible Harry," Said Hermione, "But how would he get it out of the hat? You have to be a true Gryffindor to pull it out you know."

The three friends thought about this. Finally Harry said, "I don't know how he got it but he is a dark wizard."

"True," said Hermione "Maybe there's a way to check it out. Can you think of any other locations the horcruxes might be in?"

Harry rubbed his chin and said, "The only other place I can think of would be Hogwarts."

Ron gasped.

"But we know that place by heart!" he exclaimed, "How can we not have noticed it?"

"I don't know, but how come no one ever noticed the Chamber of Secrets?" Said Harry, referring to the secret chamber of Salazar Slytherin that the trio had discovered in their second year at Hogwarts.

"He's got a point you know," said Hermione. "I did figure out something very interesting this past week though. You know that—"

"Harry, Ron, Hermione! Come on down you three, lunch is ready!"

After that the friends didn't have any time to themselves. This prevented them from having their discussion.

"That's the problem with having so many siblings." Ron whispered to Harry while peeling potatoes for Mrs. Weasley's scalloped potato dish. "You can't get away from all of them. It'll cool down after the wedding though."

"Harry! Ron!" The boys turned. It was Ginny who was calling them. "Want to play some Quidditch?"

"Alright! As soon as we finish these potatoes." said Ron.

"Why don't you just use magic?" It wasn't Ginny's voice this time but Hermione's.

"We can't… oh yeah! We're seventeen. I've been studying so much that I've forgotten we can use magic now." Ron said.

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh.

"What are you studying for?" asked Ginny curiously, a slight frown appearing on her brow, "It's summer."

"Um—I uh… school stuff. You know N.E.W.T tests are this year."

"Hmm…" said Ginny suspiciously. Ron turned back to the potatoes busily to keep her from questioning him further. Harry looked over and put a charm on the knife so it would peel and cut the vegetables for him.

"Thanks Harry," Ron said. "Now lets go play some Quidditch!" He and Ron ran up the stairs to get their brooms while the girls waited in the kitchen.

Hermione gave Ginny a quick sideways glance to see if she was still thinking about Ron's near slip. But the sixteen year old didn't seem to be thinking about it. _Whew! That was close._ Hermione thought, _She isn't thinking about it. Unless she is and just isn't showing it. _

Meanwhile the boys were upstairs getting Harry's Firebolt and Ron's Cleansweep.

"That was close!" Harry said once they entered the room. "That sister of yours almost found out what we're up to."

"And just what _are_ you up to?" A voice asked in the door frame behind them, making both the boys jump. They whirled around to see Fred and George, Ron's older twin brothers, blocking the doorway with their eyebrows raised questioningly. "What are you up to?" Fred repeated.

"Nothing," Ron said, a little too quickly.

Fred snorted. "You don't really expect us to buy that act do you little brother?"

"Yeah, you're looking at the world's top trouble makers." George added.

"If you must know," Harry said thinking off the top of his head as he was used to, "We're planning on ditching your sister after we play Quidditch."

"Really?" Fred inquired doubtfully. After a moment of observing the two before him he said, "Well, come on then, let's go have some fun."

The twins turned and started down the steps. When they left Harry and Ron let out a sigh of relief. That made two close calls today. It was hard to keep a secret from a house full of people.

They picked up their broomsticks and descended the stairs to the kitchen where the others were waiting. Then the small group proceeded to the hill where they normally played Quidditch during the summer.

The six of them played for most of the afternoon and came in exhausted but exhilarated. Dinner was served an hour later. Bill, Fleur and her family had arrived and so the tables were set outside in the garden for the big group to have dinner.

Charlie and Mr. Weasley talked about dragons and the Ministry of Magic while Mrs. Weasley talked to Ginny about what she should do with her hair for the wedding. Bill and Fleur, along with Fleur's parents, talked about the last minute wedding arrangements. Fred and George talked non-stop to Harry and Ron about their ideas for their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Hermione had a book on defensive spells propped up beside her which kept her entertained.

After a filling three course dinner and dessert the group trooped into the house and bade each other good night. The friends were so tired when they got to Ron's room that they fell into bed and went right to sleep.

A/N: **And…? How is it so far? **

**- EveningSongEnchantment**


	3. Chapter 3: The Final Golden Day

A/N: **Here is the third chapter people. I'm getting a lot of writing done since it's the holidays. But don't expect very fast updates all the time; I can write pretty slowly. **

**Disclaimer: This is not one of J.K. Rowling's fantasy books. It may be my version of the seventh Harry Potter book but it is not, I repeat NOT an official Harry Potter book. **

**Chapter 3: The Final Golden Day **

Harry woke up to a pillow being thrown into his face.

"Wake up sleepy head!" came Ron's voice, "You're going to miss the wedding if you stay there."

Harry groaned and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and looked out at the bright sunshine. The wedding was going to be held at noon so that all the guests had time to arrive and get settled. There were also last minute preparations to be made. Hermione was already up and dressed in her everyday clothes and with a jovial expression on her face.

Harry jumped out of bed and dressed before you could say Quidditch. Today he would see his first ever wedding. He wondered what it would be like. _I'll find out soon enough, _he thought.

Ron and Hermione left the room with Harry right behind them. They met Ginny on the second landing and were soon joined by Fred and George. The group came to the kitchen in which Mrs. Weasley was bustling to get everything done for the light breakfast they would have before the feast that would take place at the reception.

"Oh good," She said as she stirred the coffee, "You're up, Fred, George, would you please put the plates on the table out side? Harry, Ron, could you get the silverware? And could you girls," she pointed to Ginny and Hermione, "start the eggs while I'm doing this?" Everyone agreed and went about their assigned tasks. Just as everything was ready an owl swooped in through the window. It held the Daily Prophet in its beak. Hermione quickly paid the owl and received the paper. She scanned the front page and gave a sigh.

"No one's died," she said, "But a ministry wizard has been admitted to St. Mungo's."

"Any details?" Asked Harry. He wanted to get all the information he could on any Voldemort-related subject; which it was almost bound to be.

"Felgus Dorn, an unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry, was found with unconscious with differentially aged tissue by a room in the Department. The room in question is believed to be a room that contains time-turners or their materials judging by the workers' disorders yada, yada, yada… Not much there."

"Well," Said Ron, "At least it's not something fatal or anything like that. They'll probably be able to reverse it."

At this Hermione gave him an unsure look.

"Right?" said Ron.

Hermione shook her head, "I don't know. That kind of thing can be dangerous because there is not much that we know about time-turners. That's why they are in the Department of Mysteries. And since we smashed all the time-turners in there when we were there last they may have a problem reversing the effect."

Everyone in the room was quiet. Then Charlie and Mr. Weasley entered the room.

"Good morning all!" Said Mr. Weasley. "What's wrong?" He added when he noticed their glum faces. Hermione pointed wordlessly to the paper on the table. Mr. Weasley tensed and quickly picked the paper up to look at it. His features relaxed as he read the headline. He read the rest of the report with a serious face.

"Well at least no one's died," Said Charlie who was reading the paper of his father's shoulder.

Before any one could respond they heard laughter from the direction of the stairs.

"Breakfast!" Mrs. Weasley cried snapping to attention. She then hurriedly whipped up more eggs and bacon. The others realized that the people on the stairs were Bill and Fleur so they immediately got to work. Breakfast was done in no time and the heavy atmosphere that had been around while the news had been read disappeared and was replaced with joy and pre-wedding jitters.

Soon after the Weasley's and their guests ate the door bell was ringing non-stop. Wedding guests and well wishers were arriving every minute. Mrs. Weasley was everywhere trying to get everything situated.

"This is it," said Mrs. Weasley.

"The big one," said Fred

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes at them. Harry chuckled; Fred and George had said this to him in his first year. Except that then they were quoting Oliver Wood's speech.

"Knock it off you two." Mrs. Weasley said, "This is your brother's wedding, not a joke shop."

Harry was seated near the front of the rows next to the platform where the pastor and Bill were standing. There was silence and then, 'Here Comes the Bride' started to play. The crowd stood and Harry followed their example. As Fleur came down the isle with her father many eyes stared as they took in her appearance. She was more beautiful than ever. The veela blood in her was really showing now in her white, satin dress. Her hair was draped over her shoulders and flowed as the soft breeze pushed it away from her face. The bridal veil was white had a ring of roses on top to keep it in place. She walked us to the platform gracefully and put her hand in Bill's. Bill, who was dressed in black dress robes, smiled as his wife-to-be looked at him affectionately. The scars that he had gotten last year from Greyback, a notorious werewolf, didn't matter to her. She still thought he was worth it no matter how he looked.

Harry looked around and saw Ginny and Gabrielle, Fleur's sister, in pale gold dresses. They were the bridesmaids while all of Bill's brothers were the Groomsmen. Harry then looked around the crowd. He that almost all the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there. Tonks was sporting a purple dress and curly mousy brown hair today. There were also many French people. Some of which were obviously from Beauxbatons, the wizarding school that Fleur had gone to. Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons had arrived with the students in their giant carriage pulled by their giant horses. She was sitting next to Hagrid, Hogwarts' game keeper and one of Harry's first friends. The two had a special attraction to each other. Considering they were both half-giants Harry didn't blame them. He looked elsewhere and his eyes rested on Hermione who was next to him. She looked wonderful in her white spaghetti-strap dress. Her hair was straight and put up in a bun. Just like when she did it at the Yule Ball. But she didn't look as nice as Ginny whose dark red hair was also brought up in a bun. Well, at least the top half was; the other half hung behind her shoulders. It created a nice effect. The pale gold dress went perfect with her hair. Fleur had done a wonderful job in picking out that color.

Bill and Fleur made their vows. And then… "I do." The words echoed throughout the crowd. Then Harry cheered with the rest of the throng as the newly wedded couple came down the isle once more as man and wife. Mrs. Weasley was crying and crying by then and waved to Bill with her handkerchief happily.

There was a feast with every kind of dish you could imagine. From chicken to mutton, and from mutton to venison. There were all kinds of fruits and vegetables and other dishes. Breads, sweets, and other delectable foods loaded down the tables. There were also many foreign dishes that Harry didn't recognize. _They must be French dishes_. He thought.

Harry loaded up his plate and went to sit with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. On his way to the spot where the friends had agreed to meet he saw Neville Longbottom. He was a good friend of Harry's it looked like he was with his grandmother.

"Neville!" He shouted in greeting. Neville turned around, when he saw Harry a delightful expression crossed his round face. "I'll be right there!" Was his reply. He pushed his way through the crowd to where Harry was standing and together they made their way to the other three.

"Look who I found," Said Harry.

"Hey Neville!" Ron said, "Come sit with us. There's plenty of room here." He patted the ground next to him.

"Thanks," Neville said as he sat down. He then proceeded to eat. Then they all started talking about the D.A., a defense group that the trio had put together in their fifth year because their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher wouldn't teach them properly. Their conversation progressed to everything else about Hogwarts but was interrupted by Charlie.

He was calling for attention. When everybody had turned to him he said, "I would like to propose a toast, to the bride and groom!" he waved his hand towards Bill and Fleur. The crowd repeated "the bride and groom." All the people present drained their glasses.

After everyone ate there was dancing, which Harry attempted with Ginny. She taught him along the way so he didn't look too much like a fool. Hermione it seemed was doing the same with Ron.

Eventually the excitement wore down and the guests started leaving. Bill and Fleur left as well to spend their honeymoon touring most of Europe.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up after the wedding. By the end of it everyone was exhausted from a long day. They had eaten enough at the feast that they didn't want dinner. So they all went to bed.

A/N: **Short wedding, I know. But I'm not good at romance and get-togethers yet. **

**-EveningSongEnchantment**


	4. Chapter 4: Discoveries and What Lies Ahe

13

**Disclaimer: This is J.K. Rowling's story. Her characters act out the scenes I have put them in and they aren't mine. **

**Chapter 4 is now up and ready for you to read, fans! Enjoy!**

**- EveningSongEnchantment**

**Chapter 4: Discoveries and What Lies Ahead **

The next few weeks were all fun and games. The mornings were spent outdoors playing Quidditch and other things. In the afternoons when it was hotter the three friends would go in and study secretly for their quest. Then the evenings were spent playing exploding snap and card games. To Ron and Harry's astonishment Hermione actually wanted to learn how to ride a broom. She was now taking flying lesson from the two and when they questioned her about it she said, "You never know when you might need it." The boys understood what she meant. They would need all the advantages they had for their quest. If two could fly and the other could not they would be in big trouble. What if they needed to make a quick getaway? Sure they could Apparate but what if they were in a place where they couldn't do so? Most likely Voldemort had put an anti-apparition spell on the location of the horcruxes. Then they would have to fly or find some other quick way to get out. So as the days went by Hermione got good at flying and began to like it.

One afternoon while the three-some were reading in Ron's room Harry remembered the first day he had returned to the Burrow.

"Hermione?" He said.

"Hm?" She replied, her nose in Hogwarts A History.

"What were you going to tell us? That day before the wedding."

Ron snapped to attention and put his book down. Hermione excitedly closed her book and looked at her two companions.

"I found out something that might interest you." She said.

"Go on," Ron urged her. "Tell us."

"Well," she said thinking, "It's about R.A.B."

"So you did find something!" said Harry.

"They were only suspicions at first and these past few weeks I've been getting more 'proof'." Hermione paused.

"And?" Harry said impatiently.

"Oh Harry! I think I know who it is. It's Regulus Black!"

Harry and Ron stared at her open mouthed.

"Sirius' brother!" Ron exclaimed. "Where ever did you get that idea?''

"I used simple logic."

"Logic?" Ron snorted.

Harry could tell that they were about to fight but he cut the argument short before it started. "Just tell us Hermione."

"Well," she said, "There is a certain criteria our mysterious wizard has to meet." She took out a piece of parchment and a quill. She dipped the quill into the ink and continued. "I gathered this from the note you found Harry." They looked as she wrote.

_1) He has to be dead_

_2) He knows about Voldemort's horcruxes_

_3) He knows Voldemort personally_

_4) He knows that someone will come along to finish off Voldemort_

"Wha-?" Ron said. But Hermione interrupted him.

"The note said 'To the Dark Lord, I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.' " She seemed to have memorized the note, "So the person knew he was going to die by the sounds of it. Regulus died around seventeen years ago, if he had deserted Voldemort he would be killed. That's probably why he thinks he will 'long be dead' by the time the note is ever read."

"Uh huh," Said Harry comprehending what she was saying.

"Remember you told me Harry that in the graveyard Voldemort had said 'And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They...' Don't you see Harry? Obviously some of the Death Eaters knew about the horcruxes. And if Regulus was one of them it would explain my second point."

"That's true!" Harry said. "Your third point 'He knows Voldemort personally'. A Death Eater would know Voldemort personally."

Ron was finally understanding where this conversation was going. "And if he happened to hear the prophecy reported to Vol-" Ron took a deep breath; he still had problems calling Voldemort by his name. "And if he heard Snape report the prophecy to Vol-Voldemort he would know that there would be someone in the future that would be able to match him."

Harry felt mixed emotions after what Ron said. He felt surprised and happy that his friend was finally calling Voldemort by his name. He also felt furious at the mention of Snape. It only reminded him of what Snape had done. He also felt relief, relief that they had finally figured it all out.

There was silence while they each gathered up his or her thoughts.

"So now we know who R.A.B. is." Said Harry.

"We _think _we know who he is." Hermione corrected him, "But most of the 'evidence' points to it."

"So Regulus tried to help the person who the prophecy was talking about by getting rid of the horcruxes." said Ron shaking his head. "Boy were we wrong about the guy."

"Yes indeed," said Hermione. "Very wrong."

"I wonder if he knew that there were seven?" Harry wondered aloud. The other two turned to him. "If so, he may have already tried to destroy the other horcruxes."

The other two let his words sink in.

"So how many do you think he got?" asked Hermione.

"Not all of them because Nagini is still here." He paused. "I suppose there's no way of knowing which ones he got or if he destroyed any. We'll just have to look for all of them and see if they're there or not."

"Mhm." said Hermione.

"Good work Hermione," said Harry, "This'll help us a lot."

"Yeah, good job." said Ron. Then there was a tap on the door. Hermione quickly slid the parchment she had been writing on out of sight. "Come in." She said after she made sure there was no evidence that the meeting took place. The door opened to reveal Ginny, Fred, and George in the hallway.

"Hi guys," Harry said, "What are you doing?"

"That's what we just about to ask you," said George.

"You guys are always in here in the afternoon loaded with books," said Ginny. "You can't really be doing something for school." With that she snatched up one of the books. It was a book on defensive spells.

"You're practicing spells? And you didn't tell us!" Fred exclaimed. Then he spied Hogwarts A History. George and Ginny had noticed too.

"Strange combination," said George, "A history book on Hogwarts and a defensive spells book?"

"We're just learning more since we can use magic over the summer." Said Hermione.

"I can imagine you doing that Hermione," Said Ginny, "But these two?" She said pointing to Harry and Ron.

"Maybe you don't know us so well after all." Suggested Ron. Ginny glared at him and reached for another book. Before anyone could stop her she read the title. "'Hogwart's Founders' by Brendan Stock."

Everyone was silent.

"Why are you looking up the Founders?" Fred demanded.

"Just for history!" said Hermione defensively. "Nothing else." It was true; all they wanted to know was history. History about the objects the Founders had treasured.

Fred took a breath to say more when Mrs. Weasley called from down stairs. "Harry! Ron! Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George! Wash up for dinner." Saved by the bell. With one last look at the others Ginny stormed down the stairs to dinner. Fred and George gave the three friends suspicious looks and followed Ginny's example.

"Be down in a minute!" Ron called from the top of the stairs. Then he closed the door and opened his mouth to say something when Hermione whispered "Wait!" Then she waved her wand at the door. "Extendable ears." she muttered as she put an Imperturbable Charm on the door. Then she wave at Ron to signal him to go on.

"We have to be more careful or we'll get caught." He stated. "It's not like we're doing anything wrong you know." He said this with a look at Harry. "We just can't let the word out about what we're preparing to do."

"Yes," Said Hermione, "But we'll have to deal with it sooner or later." Harry and Ron stared at her.

"Don't you see?" cried Hermione. "We'll have to tell someone eventually because we can't just disappear and go find horcruxes. I'm surprised you guys never brought it up." Confusion then comprehension dawned on the boys faces. If the three were to go and disappear it would be in the Daily Prophet. Then Voldemort would find out and know they were up to something. He would double his efforts and finding Harry and that would be the end of it.

"So should we tell the Order?" Ron asked voicing all of their thoughts.

"We'll have to." said Hermione.

"No we don't," It was Harry who said this. "If we tell Fred and George they'll come up with an explanation and keep people from looking for us."

"What about Ginny?" asked Hermione. All three knew that Ginny would try to follow them. They couldn't let her find out. She would put herself in danger.

"I don't think so." Said Harry.

"Why not?" Hermione said, "She's just as good as we are. She went to the Department of Mysteries with us didn't she? And what about last year at-" Hermione stopped; it was too painful a memory to bring up.

"We'd better go," Ron's voice broke the silence.

They walked out of Ron's room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen in complete silence.

When they entered the kitchen they found all the Weasleys at the table awaiting their company.

The three friends sat down and instantly the group started passing the delicious dishes around.

As Harry was piling a large amount of mashed potatoes on his plate Mrs. Weasley spoke up.

"Harry, Ron, tomorrow you are to take your apparition tests."

Ron gagged on his half chewed piece of steak and promptly spit it out. Harry was in the process of passing the bowl of potatoes to Ginny on his right when he heard what Mrs. Weasley had said. It took him a while to realize that he was holding the bowl in midair and staring at Mrs. Weasley. Ginny took the bowl from him and put a mound on her plate in silence.

Harry had known this was coming. But he had forgotten about it because he had been so distracted with the quest.

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and announced: "The Ministry examiner will be here around nine."

Harry and Ron spent the rest of the day dreading the morrow.

The next morning Harry woke up and got dressed in a numb state of mind. He hadn't practiced apparition all summer. So far he had managed to apparate once without assistance from another person. He looked at Ron. He was awake and staring at the ceiling. He noticed Harry looking at him and gave him a nervous smile. Hermione woke up and stretched. Then she looked around and saw the doomed looks on her room mates' faces and smiled encouragingly.

"It'll be alright, it really isn't that bad." Hermione said reassuringly.

"That's like saying exams aren't that bad." Ron replied in a hollow voice.

"Oh don't be silly."

Harry and Ron left the room for breakfast downstairs while Hermione changed and got freshened up.

Mrs. Weasley was already up and fixing breakfast in the kitchen. When the boys entered she quickly put a few waffles on two plates and set them on the table in front of them. Both boys ate in silence. It was already 8:30 and after they ate they wished they hadn't. As 9:00 drew nearer they got queasier and queasier.

There was a knock at the door and it made all three in the kitchen jump.

"That must be the examiner!" Mrs. Weasley cried and hurried to answer the door.

Harry and Ron looked at each other. Then they both took a deep breath and started towards the door as well.

"Who's there?" Mrs. Weasley called through the door. It was part of Ministry regulation to talk in code whenever someone turned up at the door.

"Apparition examiner Wilkie Twycross."

"What do you think the best question ever is?" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had met with the man earlier and arranged a question and answer for the system.

"What is the wise thing to do? What did your father say to you when you first came home from Hogwarts after your first year?"

"That's the third in the family!" she answered and opened the door. There stood the examiner Twycross, who had taught Harry and Ron to apparate in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. He was a small wizard with transparent eyelashes, and wispy hair. He was oddly colorless and looked very frail. He thanked Mrs. Weasley and entered the house. He then turned immediately to Harry and Ron.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, good morning." He said.

"Good morning," Harry said weakly and Ron mumbled his response.

"Well now shall we get started? I would like both of you to first attempt to apparate into the kitchen over there. A relatively easy test. On three, one… two… three!"

Harry gulped and spun on the spot thinking of nothing but the kitchen. Then suddenly he was feeling the uncomfortable position of apparition being performed; his arms were pinned to his sides; he couldn't breath; his eardrums felt like they would pop and then… the feeling dissipated just like the room he had previously been in had dissipated. He looked around and saw he was in the kitchen. He gave a sigh of relief and turned to go back to where Twycross and Mrs. Weasley were waiting. As he put his step through the kitchen door he heard a resounding _crack _and jumped. He turned and saw that Ron had successfully transported himself into the kitchen as well; all in one piece too. Together the two made their way back to the front door where the adults were waiting expectantly.

"Very good!" The examiner praised. From his position he could see that the boys had made it to the kitchen and back, "Now, on to more difficult places." Harry and Ron spent the rest of the hour apparating around the house and outside as well. They got better and better with each trip; by the end of the hour they had proved they could go to places outside the Weasleys' home. Finally, they apparated to Twycross' office to receive their licenses. Once there he gave them their licenses, his best wishes for their futures, and praise for their wonderful work. The boys thanked him and apparated back to the Burrow.

"You passed!" Hermione squealed when she saw them. She had watched them apparating for the past hour and had been waiting for them to come back from the Ministry. "Now we can all apparate anywhere we want. Except illegal places of course." She said this with a pointed look which meant she was talking about their quest and how they would be needing apparition on their journey.

The boys nodded their heads to show they had taken her meaning rightly and sat down to discuss the test with her. After about half an hour of this they got up and went to Ron's bedroom to discuss the quest and their plans.

As they made their way up to the top of the house they stopped at the third landing when they saw the door to Ginny's room open a crack. They listened at the door and looked through the crack. Ginny was sitting at her desk with a quill in one hand and a blank expression on her face. Apparently she was lost in thought.

They quickly left the vicinity and climbed the remaining stairs to the top. When they were all in the room Hermione put an Imperturbable Charm on the door, locked it and sat down on the bed across from Harry's.

"I think we pretty much know what we're going to do." Said Harry, "We need to leave and leave soon. Otherwise the others are going to find out what we're up to. We also have to get started as soon as possible, if I'm going to face Voldemort I'd rather do it sooner rather than later. And I _will_ face him this time; after we take care of the horcruxes of course."

"Well then, how should we leave? Tell someone we're going into town and never coming back? I don't think so." Hermione said with an exasperated sigh. "I suppose we'll have to tell someone. Someone besides Fred and George."

There was an immediate outburst in the room. "NO!"   
"ARE YOU MAD!"

"Shut up and listen to me!" Hermione said raising her voice so she could be heard. "I don't see any other way; if we leave, tell no one where we're going and never come back everyone will start searching for us. Then Voldemort will get wind of it and we'll never keep this thing secret."

There was silence. Hermione had a good point. They couldn't have the whole world looking for Harry Potter, once Voldemort found out he would concentrate all his efforts on finding Harry. He clearly wanted to keep him in sight at all times considering his role in the prophecy that Voldemort already knew about.

"We'll have to risk it. The Order's sensible enough to know what'll happen if they make it widely known that I'm gone."

"And besides, if we told anybody they'd either try to stop us, or like in Ginny's case, they'd want to tag along." Ron said trying to convince Hermione that it was a bad idea.

Hermione stared at the floor mulling things over in her head. Then she addressed another problem. "How are we going to get away without being seen? When it comes to that how _are _we going to travel?"

The three were quiet while they thought it out.

"We could take Buckbeak." Ron suggested, "No," he contradicted himself, "Then we'd have to keep him concealed as well as ourselves and that won't be easy."

"How about broomsticks?" Harry recommended, "They'll be faster too. We don't need to bring much."

"That's another thing, where are we going to keep our extra supplies?" Hermione asked. The boys stared at her. Hermione sighed and specified, "Our extra clothes? Books? Anything else we might need? We need some kind of base! Somewhere we can go back to if we need to replenish our strength or something like that."

Hermione had a good point. But the only good places they knew of wouldn't work. The Burrow was the home of the Weasleys so that wouldn't do. Hogwarts of course was not an option either. 12 Grimmauld Place was the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix if though it was now Harry's; they couldn't risk being seen by the Order either.

"It's the Time-Turner all over again huh?" Harry said, "We can't be seen by anyone. But we have to do important things."

Hermione laughed. "My brain is starting to get all scrambled, maybe we should play something like to get our minds off this thing. After our minds are clear we can come back to it. We have a choice between chess, gobstones, Exploding-Snap, and Quidditch. Which will it be?"

Ron and Harry looked at each other. Chess, gobstones, and Exploding-Snap all needed too much thinking and they didn't want to think right now so…

"Quidditch," They said together.

"How did I know you'd say that?" Asked Hermione with a grin, "Come on, let's get the others and start as soon as we can. All this quest business is giving me a headache."

They found Ginny in her room still lying on the bed. When she heard the door she jumped and whisked around. When she saw the three of them standing there she didn't relax. "What?" She barked irritably as if they had interrupted something very important.

"Wanna play some Quidditch? We were just about to go and get Fred and George." Ron told her with a quizzical expression on his face.

Ginny thought for a moment and then smiled. "Sure, I'll be down in a minute." She closed the door and they heard her fumbling with something. They left the door and went downstairs to find Fred and George engaged in a duel.

"You're dueling and you didn't tell us?" Ron cried indignantly.

"You're doing something fishy and you didn't tell us? Looks like we're both being left out." Fred shot back. "We know you guys are up to something."

"Yeah," George, "How about leveling with us and get it over with?"

Harry looked at the other two. They both nodded. "All right, but we can't do it now, Ginny's just about to come down so we can play some Quidditch."

George raised his eyebrows. "Is there something about this that involves Ginny?"

"No," Harry said truthfully.

"Why be so secretive then?" Fred asked leaning on the back of the couch.

"You'll know soon enough," Hermione snapped, "Meet us tonight in the orchard around eleven." And with that she walked out the door towards the broom shed. Ron followed her. Harry was just about to go after them when he remembered what they were going to ask the twins before the conversation had started. "You guys want to play? We could use two more players."

The twins looked at each other.

"Fine," Fred said, "But-"

"You're going to promise to tell us everything tonight and not leave anything out," George said, finishing his brother's sentence.

"Okay, just don't tell Ginny what ever you do." Harry said.

The twins eyes narrowed, but they agreed and said they would meet him in five minutes so they could play.

Harry walked out the door and joined Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, who was now out of her room, by the broom shed. Then together they walked up the hill to the orchard where they usually played Quidditch. Five minutes later, Fred and George joined them with their brooms.

"Okay," George said, "Who are we going to have as Captains?" They took a while to decide and finally made Ron and George captains. Then they tossed a coin to see who would choose first; Ron lost. George picked Harry as his Seeker and Fred as his fellow Chaser. Ron, who was left no choice of course, picked both girls and walked them to the end of the field to give them the game plan.

"Harry," George said, "You know what to do. Just catch the ball and keep Ginny out of hair will you?" Ginny would be playing Seeker and Hermione would be playing Chaser because she had less skill.

"Right," Said Harry.

George raised his voice and yelled across the orchard to the others, "Everybody ready?" They nodded and mounted their brooms. George's team did the same and they were off. Fred immediately took the ball they were using as the Quaffle and sped towards the goal posts; Ron on his tail. Harry flew as high as could before he got over the trees. If he went over them the people in the village below would be able to see them. Ginny did the same and they both started searching earnestly for the Snitch; which was a golf ball instead of a real one, they couldn't afford to have a ball fly off into the village.

The teams were tied, 40 and 40. Minutes later Harry spotted it, a little white speck next to a tree on the outskirts of the field. Ginny had seen it too. They both dived for it from opposite directions. Ginny was closer but Harry's broom was faster they got near to it at the same time. But the ball; which had a complicated levitation spell on it, performed by Hermione, streaked off towards the middle of the field and up. Ginny was still closer, but Harry was gaining. They were heading on a collision course and right towards the ball. They both stretched out their right hand and made a grab for it. Their hands closed around the Snitch at the same time and interlocked. They hovered there in midair staring at their hands and the ball that was fighting around in the space it had. Then they looked at each other staring. The others, who had been watching the action, flew up to their height and stared as well.

"Wow," Said Ron in amazement, "I've never seen a tie in Quidditch before, but I'd have to say that this comes as close as you can get to one."

"'As close as you can get'?" Hermione said, "Ron they caught it at the same time! It is a tie!"

"This must be the first tie in any Quidditch game." George said delighted. "Or at least, I've never heard of one."

"Since they caught it at the same time we would have to split the points I suppose," Fred went on, "And, considering we both had 40 points, we tie!"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other over the top of their intertwined hands. Ginny smiled and shrugged. Harry laughed and together they started towards the ground, hands still together and gazes still riveted on one another. Harry felt a swooping sensation in his stomach; it felt so good to be holding Ginny, even if it was just their hands.

_No_, He thought quickly, _You and Ginny stopped all that for a good reason._

When they landed, Harry dismounted his broom and meant to take the Snitch to the box that the balls were kept in but couldn't untangle his hand from Ginny's. She seemed to have noticed the problem too, and together they tugged, pulled, and twisted, but their hands wouldn't break apart. Ginny blushed, and looked at her hand frowning. Harry did the same and then their heads snapped up at the same time. They realized what was going on.

Ginny rounded on the twins who were not quick enough to hide their gleeful faces.

"All right," She said, her free hand on her hip, "Take that ridiculous jinx off of us now!"

Fred grinned maliciously and turned to his twin, "What do you reckon George? Should we?"

George looked thoughtful, "I don't know. It would spoil all the fun wouldn't it?"

Hermione gave a small "tuh" and whisked out her wand. She pointed it at Harry and Ginny's connected hands, and, with a wave of her wand, they sprang apart. The golf ball fell to the ground with a soft thump.

Fred and George gave a disappointed sigh, picked up the box of supplies, and started walking back to the Burrow. The rest of them followed, talking about the game.

Harry lagged behind thinking about his emotions.

_It was all for the best. _One part of his mind said.

_But I still want to be with her, _The other part argued, _What's the harm in that?_

_You shouldn't you know. If Voldemort finds out…_

_I know, I know._

He found himself at the broom shed. The others were at the back door waiting for him.

"Come on Harry!" Ron said impatiently, "Hurry up."

Harry hitched a smile on his face and quickened his steps.

"Coming!"

When he got inside he noticed that it was almost 1:30. His stomach rumbled with hunger. He now realized they had missed lunch.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen.

"Oh good," She said happily, "You're back, I didn't want to spoil your fun so I waited. I was just about to bring up a plate of sandwiches." She offered them a plate of assorted sandwiches and turned around to get their drinks. Everyone sat down and discussed the match further.

"Did you see that score I got?"

"How about that nice backhanded throw from Fred eh?"

Harry reached for a ham sandwich and took a bite. Mrs. Weasley always made good food.

"Who wants to duel after lunch?" George roared. Everyone agreed and finished their food quickly. After hours of dueling, chess, gobstones, and Exploding-Snap it was time for dinner. Mr. Weasley had arrived and as soon as he heard that Harry and Ron had passed their test he praised them. Fred and George suggested they have a party. And so it went on until 10:00.

"All right you lot," Mrs. Weasley yelled over the hubbub. "Bed! Tomorrow we're going to Diagon Alley to pick up your new school things!"

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at each other nervously. They weren't planning on going to Hogwarts this year. Why bother getting school things? But they followed the rest up the stairs to the bedrooms. After saying good-night to the others they all went into Ron's room and fell on their beds. There was silence.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked in a defeated voice, "I still don't have any idea where we're going to go."

"Maybe Fred and George will have an idea," Ron suggested.

"Ooooh!" Hermione shrieked. Harry and Ron stared at her.

"Hermione, wha-?" But Harry didn't get to finish because Hermione interrupted him.

"Hold on, I'm trying to think. An idea just came to me." She stood there with her face screwed up in concentration. Then she paced the little amount of floor that wasn't taken up by beds in the cramped room. "Yes, it'll work, there's just one hitch. How do we get in?"

"Would you mind telling us what you're thinking now instead of next year?" Ron snapped, very impatient indeed.

Hermione went pink in the face and explained, "What if we used the Shrieking Shack as a base?"

The other two were silent as Hermione continued, "The Marauders used it, so why can't we? No one would suspect it would they?" She paused and looked Ron and Harry over, waiting for an answer.

"You said…" Harry said slowly, "You said 'How do we get in?' Well that's a very good question isn't it? We don't want to have to go in and out of Hogwarts grounds do we?"

"He's right you know." Ron said to Hermione.

Hermione paced more urgently. "We could… no, that wouldn't work. Or maybe… Hmmm."

"I don't suppose we could apparate in there could we?" Harry asked. Then he turned to Ron. "Have Fred and George tried it?"

Ron looked thoughtful. Then he said, "I don't think so. They couldn't apparate until around two years ago. As far as I know they haven't tried to get in the shack for more than three years. So I guess it's worth a try."

"Right," Hermione said, "Let's do it after Diagon Alley tomorrow. We'll come back up here as usual and then apparate there if we can. If we can get in then our problem is solved." Then she looked at her watch and gasped, "It's past eleven! Fred and George are waiting."

They opened the door and looked out onto the landing. Nobody was there. Then they snuck down the stairs past Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom. They heard a loud snort and a person shifting around in the bed. They stopped to listen and see if anyone would come out the door. When no one did they quickly ran down the rest of the stairs and out the door. Then they huffed and puffed up the hill to the orchard.

"Where were you guys?" A voice said from the darkness. Fred emerged from the trees followed by his twin.

"Sorry," Harry panted, "We were talking and lost track of time."

"Now," George said, positioning himself in front of the trio, "What's this all about?"

Harry held up a hand to show them that he was still catching his breath. When he got it back he launched into the story about the horcruxes. When he was finished he looked to see the twins staring at him with opened mouths.

"So…" Fred sputtered, "You're going after these things!"

"What about mum?" George cried, "She'll go ballistic!"

"We want to come. You guys are gonna need help."

"Hold on!" Harry shouted over the twins' voices. The twins became silent.

"Now," Harry continued, "We need someone here to keep the Order and everyone else from looking for us. You guys are perfect for the job. We also need people who can inform us about things that are going on around here and with the Order. We can only trust you two."

"And," Ron said, "You have to take care of your joke shop."

"We could use some things from there come to think of it." Hermione pointed out.

The twins stared at them thinking. Harry knew they were trying to find a loop hole in the reasons why they should stay behind.

Finally Fred sighed and said, "All right, but you guys owe us one."

"Yeah," George said, "And if you need anything just tell us."

"Great!" Ron, Harry, and Hermione said at the same time.

"When are you leaving?" The twins asked together.

"Probably tomorrow night if we can."

They were all silent. What would happen when they set off on this wild adventure? This insane journey?

Could they possibly accomplish their quest and kill Voldemort, the greatest, evilest, Dark sorcerer of all time? Only time would tell.

How long they all stood there, thinking about it none of them knew. But after a while Hermione came to her senses and said, "We'd better go. We have a long day ahead of us."

Silently, the friends trudged down the hill to the house. It was now midnight and the stars shone brightly on them from above. Harry stopped on the doorstep and looked around. This would be the last time he would see this place by moonlight for a long time after tomorrow. He might as well get a good look at it. Little did he know that the memories of this place and all the other places such as Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Grimmauld Place… would have to sustain him for the long and winding road that lay ahead of him. And as he climbed into bed, he realized just how happy his life had really been so far.

**-:-**

A/N: **Getting better? I'd like to thank mugglenet first off. That's the Harry Potter site I get all my information from. If you're looking for a goldmine of information on Harry Potter, go to mugglenet! The _ULTIMATE_ Harry Potter site! Mugglenet staff, you're the best! **

**-EveningSongEnchantment**


	5. Chapter 5: Diagon Alley and Departure

16

**A/N: Hey all! Sorry it's taken such a long time to update, but I really am busy during the school year. I try and write as much as possible and here's what's come of it all this time! Enjoy!**

** - EveningSongEnchantment**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling and don't own her delightful and simply wonderful world of Harry Potter or its characters. **

**Chapter 5: Diagon Alley and Departure**

Harry woke up to a bright morning the next day. But knowing what he was about to do that day seemed to blot out all the cheerfulness of the sunlight that was steaming through the window. He looked around and saw that Ron and Hermione were both asleep.

He got up and started packing things into his trunk. They might not get another chance today. He was careful to leave the invisibility cloak he had inherited from his father and his broom out of the jumble of things inside. As he piled some of his books into the trunk he heard a knock at the door. He quickly shut his trunk; he didn't want anyone to know he was packing. Then he went to the door and opened it.

It was Ginny. Without being invited in she strode through the door and sat on Harry's bed. She looked at him accusingly and demanded, "What are you doing?"

Harry didn't answer. What would he do now?

"I know you were packing. What for? We don't leave for Hogwarts until September first. That's about a week away!" She put her hands on her hips and stood up. Then she noticed the broom and cloak.

"Going somewhere?"

"No," Harry lied. Well it wasn't really a lie, he wasn't going anywhere _yet_.

Ginny gave him a once over and opened her mouth to say more. But then Ron woke up and saw her. Harry nearly gave a sigh of relief as she shut her mouth and stared at her brother. Ron stared back and said, "What are you doing in here?"

Then he looked at Harry who gave him an expression that clearly said _nosing about_.

Ron was just about to tell Ginny off when she ran out of the room, face in her hands.

"That's not good."

Harry turned around to see Hermione awake and watchful.

"I heard your conversation," she said looking at Harry. "You know we can't keep her from this."

"Yes we can," Harry rebuked her, "All we have to do is keep this up until tonight and then we'll be gone."

Hermione gave him a look that said _fine, do what you want_ and marched over to her trunk to start packing as well.

Harry looked hopelessly at Ron. He shrugged and got up to pack too.

When they had made sure that they were absolutely packed; nothing left out, they trooped downstairs to the kitchen.

There they found all the Weasleys that were currently in the house all sitting at the table. Except for Ginny who was sitting in the corner with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

Fred and George gave Harry questioning looks which he immediately ignored.

Ron sat down and raised his eyebrows at the twins with an expression that plainly said _later_.

"Diagon Alley today!" Mrs. Weasley reminded them all at breakfast, "So eat quickly you lot and we'll get there early."

A quarter of an hour later they were in Diagon Alley. They had again traveled by Floo Powder and came out in the Leaky Cauldron.

Like last year, the pub was almost completely empty except for…

"All righ' you three?" It was Hagrid. With a _whoosh _Mrs. Weasley appeared; followed by the twins and Ginny. Charlie had stayed behind so he could pack. He was leaving to go back to Romania after everyone left for Hogwarts. "Mrs. Wealsey, Fred, George, Ginny." Hagrid said, greeting each in turn with an inclination of his head.

"Hey Hagrid!" Was his enthusiastic reply.

"I was just about ter be doin' some shoppin' meself." He said casually, "Mind if a join ya?"

"Not at all," Mrs. Weasley said with a wave of her hand.

Harry gave a grim smile. He knew what Hagrid was there for; to protect him! He sighed, well; he wouldn't have to be watched much longer. Not when he was gone anyway, it would be just him, Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, are you coming?"

Harry snapped to attention. He had been standing in the same spot for at least a minute and the others had made it half-way across the pub. Mrs. Wealsey looked concerned.

Harry hastened to catch up with them and before they could ask questions, "I'm fine," He said, "Really," He added at the look Hagrid and the rest were all giving him. Hermione and Ron looked away and started to lead the way to the door.

Ginny cocked an eyebrow at him as he passed her. Then she too followed Ron and Hermione.

"I wish you would tell me what's going on." She whispered. "It must have something to do with Voldemort."

Harry stopped short and stared at her.

"Well it's pretty obvious," She declared, "To me anyway. You've been preoccupied all summer. I know it has to do with what you and Dumbledore didn't finish last year."

Harry shrugged and moved on before Hagrid and Mrs. Weasley got suspicious. Hermione and Ron were waiting for them at the wall that led to Diagon Alley. Hermione tapped a brick and an archway appeared in the wall.

"Why won't you tell me?"

Harry turned around to face Ginny.

"Is this for some noble reason? Just like when you broke up with me."

"I wouldn't call it breaking up; I'd call it a short-term intermission in our relationship."

"Whatever," She said aggravated, "But that doesn't change the fact that you're avoiding me and not telling me something."

They got the archway and Fred and George passed them.

"We should get to the shop." And they strode in the direction of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

As Harry saw him pass Ron and Hermione he could have sworn he saw Fred wink.

_They must be getting stuff for us, _he thought. Before he could be questioned any further by Ginny he hurried to catch up with Ron and Hermione.

"Ginny's getting more persistent," He announced. Hermione gave him an I-told-you-so look and turned to look at Ginny. Ron frowned at Hermione's expression and then he too looked over his shoulder and his sister. He gave a barely audible "Uh oh," and point.

Harry looked and saw that Ginny had met up with Neville. Who quickly bade Ginny good-bye and left, bearing towards of his grandmother.

"That's not good,"

"Maybe he was just saying hello," Hermione suggested nervously, for she too had been watching.

"And not come and say hello to us?" Ron asked, "I don't think so Hermione."

"What're you three up ter?"

All of them jumped at the voice of Hagrid which had come directly from behind them.

"Nothing," Hermione said in all honesty. "Just waiting for you guys to catch up."

"Hmph," Hagrid said, "Really?"

How many times today were people going to say that to them?

"Really," Harry said exasperatedly, "It's not like we're scheming or anything."

Hagrid raised an eyebrow and walked off to station himself at the entrance to the Owl Emporium where Mrs. Weasley had just entered with Ginny. Harry and the others entered the little store as well to get treats for their pets.

Bill had gone to Gringott's to get money for all of them before the wedding. Harry had requested a large sum of money. When Charlie had asked why he had merely replied "To get any extra things I might need." And that was that.

Then they bought more supplies to replenish their potion kits, ("We still might need them," Hermione said at Ron and Harry's questioning looks.) She quickly shut up when she noticed Ginny near by looking suspiciously in their direction. Then the group continued on the Flourish and Blotts and bought new school books. With Hermione's assurances that they might need the spells in the books they purchased three _Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7_ and left to run more errands.

Here and there they met familiar faces but no one stopped to chat. Everyone was hurrying around trying to get their shopping done as fast as they could like it were Christmas rush. These days there was not much peace due to Voldemort's power. Harry felt a stab of anger at this, but then reminded himself that if he was successful that wouldn't last very long. As Harry relaxed he noticed that Ron was already at the door of the twins' shop. They all entered quickly. Mrs. Weasley insisted that they didn't need anything except to bid the twins good-bye and good luck. Since everyone was about to leave the Burrow, Fred and George had returned to their flat above the shop.

"Good luck," Fred whispered to Harry and the other two as he slipped their most useful supplies into their shopping bags.

"Call on us if you ever need anything," George said with a worried face.

"Thanks," Harry said, "And we'll be just fine. Look after Ginny for us will you?"

"Will do." And both shook Harry's hand.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling up from behind a shelf of hair-care products that turned your hair into frog spawn.

"Time to go," She said and hugged the twins in turn. "Good bye Fred, goody bye George."

"Mum," George protested as she hugged him, "It's not like we'll never see you again, we're still coming to visit."

"Right," Mrs. Weasley said wiping tears from her eyes. "Right, I'll see you later then. The rest of you lets go."

As he left the shop Harry grinned and waved at the twins. They both winked in reply and went to help a customer. Their assistant, Verity, ran up to the counter and started talking hurriedly to George who followed her to a customer who seemed to have gotten into some of the wart powder.

The street was gloomy compared to the shop. It was practically deserted. The only people that were there were looking over their shoulders every few seconds as if they expected an attack at any moment. Children kept close to their parents and no one was alone.

The Weasleys and their guests hurried back to the Leaky Cauldron. When they entered Tom, the bartender looked up hopefully; but then sadly went back to cleaning a table when he saw that they weren't going to stop and buy a drink.

"See ya later Molly," Hagrid said, "Be careful."

"Thank you Hagrid," Mrs. Weasley, "Are you sure you don't…?"

"No thanks," Hagrid said with a laugh, "You've got enough with two extra trouble makers on your hands." Then he turned to Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Harry. He gave them each a bear hug and told them "See you at Hogwarts!" then he disappeared though the fire. Ron, Harry, and Hermione smiled dolefully at him before he left. They weren't going to see him at Hogwarts but what was the point in telling him that.

When they had gotten to Ron's room and packed their new things Hermione said miserably, "Wonder what he'll do when he finds out we're not coming back?"

"And that we're missing," Harry said with a rueful grin and plopped down onto his bed.

They all sighed. Harry absentmindedly started twirling an extra quill in his fingers. They weren't going to see much of anybody until they finished this quest.

"You know," Ron said, "We must be insane to be going through with this."

Harry looked up at him and smiled, "We must have been insane to do anything we've done. What with the Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and all of those."

"Yeah," he sighed and lay down staring at the ceiling, "But this is the maddest thing we've ever done."

"Mad yes," Hermione said, "But desperate. There's a difference between plain mad and mad and desperate."

Desperate was right. If they didn't stop Voldemort then who could? If it was a question of that could they defeat Voldemort?

"Er-" Ron said, breaking the silence, "Aren't we supposed to be trying to get into the Shrieking Shack?"

"Oh yeah!" Harry cried, "It must have slipped my mind. Who wants to try first?" He looked at the other two. Both of their faces looked determined.

Hermione looked around at Ron and Harry. "It would be pointless for more than two of us to go at once."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"You are clueless!" Hermione exploded, "What do you think'll happen if we can't get into the Shack and we try to apparate there HMM?"

Silence.

"You'll probably get splinched! Or worse you could end up splinched in a place you don't even know. More terrible yet you could get splinched and half of you ends up in a place where Death Eaters are." The idea of apparating didn't sound so good anymore.

"I'll do it," Harry volunteered. "And if I don't come back in ten minutes…improvise." He finished abruptly and immediately apparated. The last thing he saw before the blackness of the apparition process was the bewildered and frightened faces of his two friends. Then he was whirling in a stream of color and sound; being pressed from all sides till he couldn't breathe. And then he landed, hard; on something that looked like a chair. Its legs had been torn off and chunks of the seat ripped out.

He quickly got to his feet and looked around. He was definitely in the Shrieking Shack. There was no mistaking the boarded up windows or rickety staircase. He had done it! He had successfully apparated into their new base. What's more he had apparated farther than he ever had before.

He chuckled to himself. This was perfect! No one would ever guess the famous Harry Potter was living in an old run down, supposedly haunted Shack. This was brilliant.

If they brought a small bookcase they could put all their books together in this room and have sort of a study place. They could put a table there with all their quills, ink bottles, and parchment. Harry had survived in Grimmauld Place so this might not be so bad.

He walked around and around the Shack thinking of all the things they could do with it. Then he realized he had been there almost ten minutes! He hastily thought of Ron's room in the Burrow and apparated immediately.

He again felt the sensation of apparition and when he appeared with a _crack _in Ron's bedroom he met his friends' scared faces.

"It's alright," He said, "I did it!"

Their faces relaxed and he told them all the ideas he had for the place.

"…And that next to the study could be a dueling room. We could also-" But he was interrupted by footsteps on the stairs.

They all quickly made the room as messy as they could so that no one except Ginny would think that they were packing. This was a good thing because when the door opened it was Mrs. Weasley.

She poked her head in and looked them over frowning. "You three have been up here quite a long time." Her eyes shifted to Ron's guilty face. "Probably dueling I suppose?" She said, casting an eye around the room, "Oh well, good thing for you to do in these times…" Her voice trailed off. She looked at the floor and then regained her composure, "Lunch is ready. Tell Ginny won't you? I don't know where she's gone." With that she closed the door and they heard her tromping down the stairs.

"Whew!" Ron said, collapsing in a chair next to his bed, "They don't come closer than that. At least she thought we were dueling."

"I wonder where Ginny's got to?" Harry said wonderingly. Then he shook his head and said, "She's probably outside. Come on, let's go find her."

When they had reached the front door however, it swung open. There was Ginny, looking red cheeked and breathing hard.

"Where have you been?" Ron exclaimed, "We were just coming to get you for lunch."

"I can have my own secrets can't I?" snapped Ginny, "You three seem to have a lot of them lately." Then she huffed and stormed into the kitchen.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. They looked as bewildered and worried as he did.

"Let's go," He said, "Before your mum gets suspicious too." Then they flocked into the kitchen for lunch.

Afterwards, when they were full of Mrs. Weasley's home cooking, they went upstairs yet again to Ron's room. There they checked to see if everything they needed for operation 'Departure' was ready. They put all the books and things they had taken out over the last few hours and put them in their trunks.

They kept their brooms out and Harry's invisibility cloak as well. Hermione had bought a broom in Diagon Alley ("You could just use one of our brooms," Ron had said. "No," she had whispered, "It'd be like stealing."). They had just finished when they heard voices downstairs.

"How are you dear?" Mrs. Weasley cried.

"Fine, just fine Molly," Came Tonks' voice.

"And you Remus?"

"Just fine."

"Anything to drink? Tea? Coffee?"

"No, just a little social activity." Said Lupin, "I wanted to see how Harry was doing."

Ron, Hermione, and Harry had started down the staircase when they had heard Tonks' voice and were now in the living room where the guests were standing.

Today Tonks had her usual hair of pinkish color and Lupin looked as worn and as ragged as ever. They were standing arm and arm talking with Mrs. Weasley.

Tonks turned and saw the three of them and said, "Wotcher Harry, Ron, Hermione."

"Hi Tonks," Harry said enthusiastically, "How are things at the Auror Office?"

"Mad," Was her reply, "I can hardly stand it. Not much free time anymore. I'll be stationed at Hogwarts again this year. So I'll be seeing you there."

Harry felt a pang of guilt. Everyone expected him to be at Hogwarts. Too soon would they find out that he was missing and so were his closest friends. What would they think the cause would be? Kidnapped? Dead? Run away? Or that he had foolishly gone after Voldemort himself? That was what he was eventually going to do. How many of them would think of the mysterious happenings on the night Dumbledore had died. Surely McGonagall would link their disappearance with the incident with Dumbledore and Harry being gone that night? Only time would tell.

A worried voice brought Harry out of his brooding.

"Harry? Are you alright?" Lupin was looking at him curiously. So was everyone else.

"Yeah," He said, "I'm fine. Just wondering where Ginny was," He added.

"Gone again?" Mrs. Weasley said exasperatedly. "You kids are acting strange. Ginny's been disappearing and reappearing and you've all been in Ron's room most of the week."

Lupin and Tonks looked at Harry questioningly.

"We've been studying defensive spells." Said Hermione, telling a half-truth, "We thought they might come in handy after last year." She gasped and bit her lip. It was always uncomfortable when they talked about what had happened last year.

Silence filled the room.

"So how are you two doing?" Harry asked, covering the awkward moment.

The rest of Tonks and Lupin's visit was more pleasant. They talked about past years and how happy they had been; forgetting what was happening now and entranced with yesterday.

Lupin kept casting worried glances at Harry and his friends. He knew something was going on. But Harry kept his mouth shut and the others followed his lead.

Eventually, the couple got up, insisting that they couldn't stay for dinner.

"Got things to do." Lupin said with a pointed look at Mrs. Weasley.

Harry hated it when they did that. It meant that there was something going on that he didn't know about. But then… they didn't know what he and his friends were planning either.

"Good-bye," Tonks said, hugging each of them in turn. She tripped on the rug on her way to Ginny knocking her into Harry.

They all lay, sprawled on the floor laughing. Tonks got up and started apologizing profusely.

"That's okay," Ginny said, and tried to get up, but her legs were in a tangle with Harry's and she fell down again; this time colliding with Hermione.

"Here," Lupin said, helping them all get untangled.

"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully.

"Yeah," Harry said, "Thanks for everything."

Lupin looked at him concerned, his expression quizzical. Then he smiled and said, "You are most welcome Harry."

He and Tonks left, hand and hand.

Mrs. Weasley quickly started them setting the table for dinner.

"Everyone is getting suspicious," Hermione noted nervously.

"Don't worry," Harry whispered, "By tomorrow morning we'll be long gone."

But they weren't.

Tonks and Lupin's visit seemed to have set off a chain reaction. Order members were flooding into the house every day after that. There was no chance for the trio to escape with so many skilled wizards close by.

"Why did they have to pick now to start coming?" grumbled Ron. He was leaning close to the table, writing.

It was two days before the departure to Hogwarts. They had just eaten dinner and were once again in Ron's room. They had claimed that they were going to pack.

"Arrgh!" Hermione cried exasperatedly, throwing down her quill. "What are we going to do? I wish they would stop coming. I can hardly stand this. My nerves are on edge! What'll we do if we don't get out of here before we have to board the Hogwarts Express?"

"Maybe we could accidentally get lost in the station?" Ron suggested.

Harry snorted. "With aurors on our left and right?"

Hermione sighed. "We'll just have to leave the night before and hope no one will notice us in the rush."

Harry snorted again, "That'll be the day." He too sighed and put his head in his hands. They needed to have a whole night's traveling to get far enough away. Maybe all the commotion in the morning would give them more time. Or maybe less… who knew? It was already seven o'clock. Could they make a break for it now? Probably not. Tonight their company had consisted of Mad-Eye Moody and Professor McGonagall. The chances of their leaving with them around were slim.

But, their chance came. About an hour later they heard a scream from the living room and hurried footsteps on the stairs. Mrs. Weasley was yelling for all of them to get to the living room immediately.

The friends looked at each other and whisked down the staircase. Ginny hurtled out of her room and down the stair in front of them.

"Urgent message… Attack on the Ministry…"

"Can't we-?" Ginny started.

"NO!" Mrs. Weasley cried, "Stay here and wait for us to return! We'll be back as soon as we can." While she was saying this Mr. Weasley had thrown Floo Powder into the grate and vanished. He was promptly followed by Mad-Eye and McGonagall.

Ginny attempted to argue with her mother but was cut short.

"We'll see you when we get back!" Mrs. Weasley said hurriedly and vanished through the fire.

Ginny looked at the other three and finding no help there ran up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door.

"Now's our chance!" Hermione whispered and dashed up the stairs to Ron's room tailed by Harry and Ron. The three of them topped the stairs and pounded into the room.

As quickly as they could they gathered up all the belongings they had taken out over the past week and threw them into their trunks. Then they put on muggle clothes and seized the trunks. Then they finally stopped.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Asked Hermione uncertainly.

"Of course we are." Harry snapped, trying to get his trunk closed properly, "This is serious Hermione," He added looking up at her severely.

"I know. It's just that… well…"

"I know what you're thinking, but don't."

Hermione sighed, "Ok, lets do it."

"Er—" This time it was Ron's turn to interrupt. "What about Ginny?"

Harry stopped trying to shut his trunk and stared at it. What about Ginny? Should they really leave her behind? True, she was as good as Ron and Hermione, but should they bring her? Then he made up his mind.

"No," He said flatly. Finally closing his trunk.

"But—"

"No Hermione!"

"Okay, fine."

They strapped their luggage to their brooms quietly.

They wouldn't apparate to the Shack because it was difficult enough to get themselves anywhere. Add luggage and the long distance and it would be too much for them at this stage.

Harry had brought Dumbledore last year from the Cave but that was an emergency. In desperate times we find that we can do things we wouldn't normally be able to do. That had been one of those times.

Careful not to make too much noise, they crept down the stairs and out the door. When they were out, Hermione performed a Disillusion Charm on all of them and Harry put his invisibility cloak over himself for extra measure.

He had offered it to the others but neither had accepted and said that he was more important than them. Wanting to get away as quickly as possible, Harry did not argue the point.

They kicked off from the ground and flew into the air; careful to keep out of sight from any of the windows. They might be invisible, but their brooms weren't.

For hours and hours they flew, non-stop. He had strapped the compass that had come with his broom service kit to his Firebolt. The silence was only broken when Harry shouted out directions.

It grew cold, windy, and wet as they went through clouds.

Harry wondered what had happened at the Ministry; or was it what _was _happening at the Ministry? Had they gotten back yet? Were they all unharmed? And how would they react when they found that the three of them were missing? Questions like these chased each other around and around in Harry's head.

It went on and on, cold, windy, wet, cold, windy, and wet. Harry was freezing. He was sure the others were too. They had to be more than half-way there. _A lot _more than half-way there. That trip seemed to go on forever. Harry was getting worried, shouldn't they be there by now?

Just on the brink of panic, he felt it. A cold, draining, emptiness. _Dementors! _He thought. His wand was out in a heartbeat.

"_Lumos!_" A bright light shown suddenly from the tip of his wand. There they were. On the ground below them. Eight or ten of them by the look of it; but Harry didn't have time to count. He looked around wildly for any sign of his friends. Hermione was on his left clutching her broom with what seemed to be her last bit of strength. _Where was Ron? _

"_Expecto Patronum!" _Harry yelled pointing his wand at the dementors closest to Hermione. A silvery stag erupted from his wand. It charged at the dementors and knocked them down. First two, and then three, and then another two. The last one fled, closely followed by its fellows.

They were gone, but where was Ron?

Harry looked frantically for his friend; but in the poor light it was nearly impossible to see anything that was not within a meter's distance.

"Ron!" he shouted.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed hysterically, she didn't seem to be herself. Not only that, but she was beside herself with worry.

Harry flew around and around in circles trying to locate Ron, finally, he saw him. He was lying on the ground pale, wand out, and conscious, but barely. Harry motioned for Hermione to follow him and dived.

In seconds they were at Ron's side.

"Are you okay?" asked Harry urgently.

"Yeah," Ron croaked, "I'll be fine. Just need a little rest."

Hermione gave a choked sob. Tears began to drop from her eyes and onto the ground next to Ron.

"None of that!" Ron said, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Hermione sniffled, "But you really scared me."

"You scared us _both_." Harry said looking at Ron.

Ron gave a weak half smile. "Sorry. I almost got a patronus out though! It looked like something small."

"Good!" Harry said, "You're improving."

There was the sound of wolves howling behind them. Harry looked around, finally taking in his surroundings.

They seemed to be in a glade at the edge of a forest. Harry had on idea where they were.

Hermione picked up Harry's broom and looked at the compass. Then she pointed into the forest. "That way is north."

"I don't reckon there's anything else we can do tonight. Seeing as we're lost in the dark and Ron doesn't seem to be able to travel…"

"I can too!" Ron said indignantly and tried to get up but sank to the ground again with a groan. "Where's my broom?"

They all looked around.

"There it is!" said Hermione, pointing in the tree above them.

Indeed, it was Ron's faithful broom. Luckily it was still in one piece; not a twig out of order. The trunk and its contents seemed to be intact as well.

"I think we should spend the night here." Said Harry in a matter of fact voice, "Like I said, we can't get anymore traveling done tonight."

Hermione got Ron's trunk and broom down from the tree and she and Harry set up camp.

Hermione conjured up three comfy looking sleeping bags while Harry started a fire going. Then with blankets they had brought along they constructed and shabby, little tent.

Pleased with their work, the two helped Ron up and assisted him into a sleeping bag. Hermione snapped her fingers and ran to her trunk. She opened it and started shifting its contents around. She then gave a triumphant "hah!" and brought out a small package.

"Chocolate," She said with a grin, and with that, broke off a piece for each of them.

Ron's face brightened up considerably when he took a bite and gave a contented sigh. Harry bit into his piece and felt warmth flood through his body. By the looks of it, Hermione was feeling the same sensation.

"Useful, that chocolate." Harry joked, "Like a patronus it erases the effects of dementors."

"Wonder if it could fight them too?" He added as an afterthought. Ron and Hermione laughed at his weak attempt at a joke. In doing so, they had fulfilled Harry's intentions. And without further ado, they all went to sleep.

Now we must go back to Ginny and the Order.

When Ginny had gone into her room she was fuming. Not only did her mother tell her not to come; but Ron, Hermione, and Harry, of all people, hadn't even put up a fight! Very unusual. Was it because they thought they didn't have any hope of convincing Mrs. Weasley? Or something else?

An idea interrupted her brooding. Did this have something to do with their strange behavior?

Ginny jumped off her bed and darted up the stairs to Ron's room. She looked in to find the place a mess as usual. But there was no Harry, no Ron, no Hermione, and… wait a minute! No trunks!

Emotions mounting, Ginny ran throughout the house calling the trio. She couldn't have been in her room more then five minutes! At most ten.

"HARRY! RON! HERMIONE!" She screamed to the world at large. But no answer was to be heard. She ran back up the stairs as fast as she could and tore into Ron's room slamming the door. Breathing very hard, she searched the room for clues.

Next to the dresser, she stepped on something. It was a piece of parchment. Curious, she bent down and picked it up. Turning it over she saw Hermione's handwriting and read:

_1) He has to be dead_

_2) He knows about Voldemort's horcruxes_

_3) He knows Voldemort personally_

_4) He knows that someone will come along to finish off Voldemort_

What was going on? And what on earth were _horcruxes? _Nothing good, that was for sure; since it had something to do with Voldemort.

While she was still contemplating the note, she stumbled and fell. Getting up, she saw what she had tripped on. It was a book. Aggravated, she picked the book up and was about to chuck it down the stairs when she saw its title. It was Hogwart's founders. Ginny remembered that day when she, Fred, and George had discovered Ron and his friends supposedly studying. Hermione had claimed that the book was for history. But what if it wasn't? What if it was for something else? Voldemort perhaps?

_No, _she thought, _He has nothing to do with the founders. There was no link. _Ginny flopped down on one of the beds and gave an infuriated scream. …Wait. Voldemort _did _have a connection with the founders. He was Slytherin's heir! Did that have something to do with these… horcruxes? What ever they were. But that still hadn't explained where the others were.

Ginny mused for what seemed like hours when she heard something moving down stairs. She hastily stuffed the note into her pocked and took out her wand. She crept cautiously down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, she looked around the corner. She saw someone in a black traveling cloak and hat. Ginny's heart was pounding.

The man didn't know she was there. She could take him by surprise and stun him. As she prepared to do just that the fireplace burst into green flame.

The figure in the living room turned and she saw it was Bill. He was wearing that hat so she hadn't seen his hair.

Mrs. Weasley appeared out of the fireplace looking harried, her eyes bloodshot.

Ginny didn't know what made her do it; both of them could have been Death Eaters in disguise. All the same, she ran to them and hugged them, wailing that they were gone, gone!

Mrs. Weasley was taken aback and wrenched free out of her daughter's embrace and looked at her frightened. Wide-eyed, she asked urgently, "What happened? Who's gone?" She looked around. Everything was normal… except for… she couldn't put her finger on it. Something was amiss. Then she noticed something very odd. Why hadn't the other three come down to greet them?

The fire came to life once more and Mr. Weasley appeared out of it.

"The others!" Ginny cried, "They've disappeared!"

Bill looked at his distressed sister bewildered. Then he too looked around.

"No," He said quietly, "They can't have… Ginny, is it Ron? Where is Harry? Hermione? Where are they?"

"I… I don't know," sobbed Ginny.

Mr. Weasley turned as white as a sheet and began searching the house wildly, calling his sixth son's name and the name of his friends.

Bill quickly followed suit and ran from room to room, looking.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't taking the news well. She fainted as yet again the fireplace erupted. This time it was Mad-Eye. He took one look at the scene and grunted forcefully, "What's going on?"

His magical eye wandered around on the ceiling and saw Bill and Mr. Weasley running to and fro frantically.

Charlie arrived a moment later. When he heard what had happened he too began to search.

There was a small _pop _and Professor McGonagall appeared on the scene too. She saw Mrs. Weasley and hastened to revive her.

When Mrs. Weasley was awake she began to cry uncontrollably.

"Molly," McGonagall said severely, "What happened?" But Mrs. Weasley was too distressed so she turned to Ginny.

Ginny gulped and quickly told her everything that had happened since the Order members had left, leaving out the note.

"I shall contact the rest of the Order immediately." There was another small _pop _and she was gone.

Mad-Eye stumped away to help search the house. The sound of _clunk, clunk_ followed him. As he went into the kitchen Bill sprinted down the stairs and out the door.

Ginny, after seeing that her mother was okay, slipped out the door quietly and ran to the orchard. It was such a peaceful night. If only chaos weren't around.

She slowed down when she got to the orchard. Seeing no one there she collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

She went over the past few weeks in her head trying to glean every detail she could. She started with the beginning, when it all started and went through her thoughts and memories to the end. She had found nothing else linking to the mysterious note she had found to the others' disappearance. They were obviously related but how?

She got up. It was time to call in the cavalry.

Hours of fruitless searching brought up nothing. Mrs. Weasley was hysterical and her eyes were puffy and more bloodshot than before. Professor McGonagall had returned and made her a cup of tea. Mrs. Weasley took it gratefully, but didn't touch a drop.

"Drink up Molly," Urged Professor McGonagall, "It's good for the nerves."

"Nerves?" Said Mrs. Weasley hysterically, "I don't think I have any nerves left!" She started to cry but couldn't produce tears. She then gave a dry sob and put her head in her hands.

"It's all my fault," She moaned, "I shouldn't have left them."

"Don't talk like that mum," Ginny said defiantly, "You can't change the past."

"I knew something was wrong," Mrs. Weasley continued, as though she had never heard her only daughter, "They were acting very strangely since the beginning of the year. It started right after Dumbledore…" She broke off in fresh sobs, this time the tears came.

Professor McGonagall patted Mrs. Weasley on the back and got up.

"I must return to Hogwarts. The students will be arriving in a few days and everything must be ready." She strode to the kitchen door and stopped with her hand on the handle. She turned to Mrs. Weasley, "I'm sure everything will turn out all right." With those hopeful words she left the house.

It took a while, but Ginny was finally able to get mother up to bed. Then she fell exhausted into her own.

-:-

**A/N: Ooh! Wasn't that _exciting_? Questions must be answered. Where is the first horcrux? How will the Weasleys and the Order cope with the sudden disappearance of their beloved trio? How much does Ginny know? Deduce? And what the _heck _is she doing? She too seems to have secrets of her own... **

**Find answers in future chapters! Stay tuned for the next chapter of _Harry Potter and the Search for the Hidden Souls_!**

**- EveningSongEnchantment **


	6. Chapter 6: Lost

**A/N: **I'm back again! More Harry Potter mania, all for you folks! Please r&r!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Harry Potter except for anything weird you might see!

**Chapter 6: Lost**

Harry woke up disoriented and confused. Where was he?

Then the night's event came rushing back to him. He got out of his sleeping bag and went outside. His eyes were dazzled by the bright sunlight. It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust. He looked at his watch and was startled. It was already twelve noon!

The action of last night had left them exhausted. They must have made camp around four or five in the morning.

He quickly woke the others up. They too were still tired and unsettled.

They quickly packed up camp and were about to resume their flight when Hermione said, "Don't. Let's not. I'm sick of flying. Why don't we walk for a while?" The other two agreed, thinking this was a good idea.

When they came to the edge of the woods they saw nothing but open fields and farm land.

"Um… guys?" Ron said, "Where are we?"

They all looked at each other. Where _were _they?

"Last night I was sure that we must have passed Hogwarts." Harry said, his suspicions coming back to him. "What if we did?"

"We just have to back track south." Hermione concluded.

"Yes, but how far south are we? And how do we know that's the right way?" asked Harry, "I was just about to check the compass when the dementors arrived. I was sure we had gone off course a little."

His two friends' faces paled.

"And if we were off course then…" Ron said.

Hermione gulped. "Then how far off course are we now?"

Harry didn't know. Neither did the others. They were lost.

"Okay, okay," said a pale and frightened Hermione. She began pacing, "Don't panic, don't panic, there has to be some way out of this."

Ron leaned against a tree, thinking hard. Harry thought too but he didn't see a way out of this mess. How could everything have gone into such disarray?

_If they asked a farmer where they were how would they explain that they had gotten there? _Harry thought. He relayed the problem to the others.

This didn't make the group any happier. Hermione's head shot up. She whacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"How could I have been so _stupid_?" She asked incredulously.

"We're all kind of stupid for getting into this Hermione," Harry pointed out.

"No, no, no." Hermione said, "I figured out what to do."

"Oh?" Ron said.

Hermione gave him a superior look and said, "Oh yes, I know exactly what to do. We can create an illusion to make it look like there's a car when actually we're riding our brooms close to the ground."

"And does anyone here know how to create an illusion like that?" questioned Harry.

"Of course. I do, or I wouldn't have suggested it." Hermione snapped.

They worked it all out. Harry would be in front with Hermione and Ron would be in the "back seat". They positioned their brooms in a triangle with Ron's broom at the point in the back. Hermione did some complicated spells and created the illusion. It looked just like a car, inside, and out. Then the plan commenced and they slinked down through the trees to the road.

Making sure no one was watching, Hermione created an illusion and they "drove" onto the road. They stopped at the first house they found. Hermione went to the front door and rang the bell.

A big, hassled farmer answered. Hermione politely asked for directions to Duff Town. (This was one of the muggle towns on the way to Hogwarts)

The man kindly gave them directions. They discovered that they were definitely off course. They had to be at least _five _hours away from it.

Thanking the man for his help, Hermione got back on her broom. It looked to the muggle as if she were getting into the passenger seat of the car.

Then they "drove" off once again. As soon as they got to the trees again they looked around and ran through them to the glen they had camped out before.

Not having time to spare for their feelings of disappointment, they quickly disillusioned themselves and were once again flying.

By night fall they had gotten to yet another forest with no sign of Duff Town.

"I hate forests." Was Ron's first remark when they had landed.

"It's all we've got for cover." Harry said.

Hermione started a stew with vegetables from the Weasley's garden.

"When did you get those?" Asked Ron.

"A few days before we were suppose to leave the first time." Hermione said with a shrug.

The stew was quite good actually. But Harry had no idea where Hermione had learned to cook.

Hermione blushed when he had complimented her.

"Thanks," She said, "I learned to cook stew when I was around ten."

Ron looked at her incredulously.

"You learned to cook when you were _ten_?" He said surprised, "Wow, you are amazing."

Hermione's blush grew redder.

Sadly, they could not travel any more that night. Well, it's not that they couldn't they just didn't want to. They had lost their nerve for night traveling because of what had happened the other night.

Wanting to get an early start in the morning, they all went to bed early.

Little did they know what the morrow would bring.

Hermione woke up first the next morning. Seeing that the other two weren't awake yet she crept out of their makeshift tent; being quite careful not to disturb them.

She was quite refreshed in spite of the fact that she had traveled who knows how many miles for the last two days and had spent the past two nights sleeping on the ground.

She stretched and took in her surroundings. This clearing was more pleasant than the one they had spent last night in. It had a little lake at the edge of the trees and late blooming flowers were all around.

Feeling dirty because she hadn't washed in two days, Hermione went over to the lake to wash her face. When she got back to the campsite she saw that both boys were finally awake. Feeling as though they couldn't possibly live with out her in the wild, she began starting breakfast while the others picked up camp.

She was just about to tell the boys that the food was ready when she heard a rumbling growl from behind her.

Hermione froze with fright. What could have made that noise? Not daring to turn around Hermione reached for her wand which lay beside her. Then she saw them. Surrounding the clearing were wolf-like creatures. They had dark gray stripes on their legs and backs like a tiger. They had wings and fangs as long as Hermione's index finger. But that wasn't the scariest thing about them. Their eyes were like any wolf's except they seemed more intelligent. Not only that, but they were different colors like human's eyes and they held emotions of wild ferocity. It was as she looked at the creatures' eyes that she realized what they were. Wragerwolves!

Her mind flew to what she had read about them. They were vicious beasts named partly for the man who had brought them into existence. The wizard Harold Wrager had magically combined the genes of an eagle, a wolf, and DNA from a fossil of a saber tooth tiger. The animal looked mostly like a wolf so he had used them in its name. The wolves had escaped the laboratory in which they had been bred and started reproducing in the world. The combination of genes seemed to have made them intelligent. They were vicious beasts that would hunt any creature. Even humans. They were supposed to be really rare.

Evidently they weren't as rare as most people thought. The Wragerwolves advanced a few steps and hid behind bushes and trees.

One was right near Harry who was buckling his trunk to his broom. Ron was not far away watching his attempts with amusement. She had to warn them.

Just as the wragerwolf closest to them was about to spring Hermione screamed, "Move!" At the top of her voice.

Trusting each other as the trio did the boys didn't hesitate. Harry dove to the right drawing his wand and Ron did the same to the left. The wragerwolf had pounced on the place where the two had been standing moments before.

Hermione became conscious of a rustling of leaves behind her. She dove to the side and rolled over yelling "_Stupefy!" _The spell found its mark, it hit the wragerwolf that had been behind her in the chest. The creature gave a howl of pain and sank to the ground.

Howls of rage erupted from all around the clearing. The wragerwolves abandoned stealth and charged the three friends.

"RUN!" Harry bellowed. Ron and Hermione did as he said and sprinted for their lives. They got to the edge of the woods and saw a steep hill. It was covered with boulders and stones. They scrambled up the hill as fast as they could but he creatures were gaining.

As they reached the top Harry turned around.

"_Expelliarmus_!" He roared. A red light emitted from his wand catching the nearest wolf-like creature between the eyes. It fell back and tumbled into one of its fellows. But there were at least five more.

The five remaining separated and took cover behind boulders so they wouldn't get hit by future spells.

Hermione and Ron had reached the top panting. The three of them stood back to back wands out.

"What are these things Hermione?" Harry panted.

"Wragerwolves," Hermione said, equally out of breath, "They're very intelligent, I'll explain later. LOOK OUT!"

A wragerwolf had jumped out from behind a boulder and was pounding up the hill towards them. While they were distracted by this one two more came from above in an aerial attack. The three left over were coming up from behind.

"_Impedimenta_!" Harry yelled.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Screamed Hermione.

"_Stupefy_!" Ron cried.

Spells rained down on the animals from above.

"_Incarcerous_!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand up at the two above them. Ropes wrapped themselves around the flailing wragerwolves and brought them down. By two of the others had recovered and a third was getting up. They approached the three humans at a slow cautious pace growling.

Harry backed up a step and felt the ground falling away. He heard a scream and a thud as he tumbled down the steep hillside. A wragerwolf had jumped on Hermione and pushed her to follow Harry down the hill. Ron was likewise dealt with and all three were screaming and rolling down the hill; hitting rocks along the way.

Harry skidded to a stop at the bottom feeling sick and dizzy. He had bashed his arm against one of the boulders and it hurt badly. But he didn't have time to think about it, the wragerwolves were advancing. Ron and Hermione landed with a thud on ground next to him. Harry saw that the two wolves he had conjured ropes on had gotten free and were behind the first three. The pack were almost upon them.

Desperate, Harry wracked his brains for a plan. Then it came to him.

"_Impedimenta Maximus!" _ He yelled. The spell hit the wragerwolves with more force than the original would have done. They were slammed into boulders and fell to the ground unconscious.

Harry gave a whoop of triumph and knelt down to help Hermione and Ron up. Hermione had a big gash on her forehead and claw marks on her shoulder. Ron had a big slash on the leg.

Hermione healed their cuts with a simple wave of her wand and then pointed it towards the top of the hill.

"_Accio Brooms!" _

Their brooms came hurtling over the crest of the hill and down towards their owners. Their trunks were all strapped tight so nothing was left but to mount them and kick off.

They rose into the air and glided over the hill they had previously fought on. No one spoke until they were well away from that place.

Finally Harry couldn't resist any longer, "What were those things?" Hermione explained and gave a sigh of relief.

"We were lucky," she said

"Yeah, lucky," Harry agreed.

Ron was silent. They looked at him. He looked back grimly and then grinned.

"I don't care what either of you say but you won't change my mind," He said, "I _hate _forests!"

They all laughed. Then they flew south triumphantly.

They still hadn't had any breakfast so when they were safely away from 'Wragerwolf Domain', as they now called it they landed in a field far away from any houses for an early lunch.

It was about eleven o'clock when Hermione started to fix something up. After eating a delicious meal, they lay back on the ground with a contented sigh. They could afford a rest now and they took the chance with open arms. In no time they were asleep.

At one o'clock they were woken by the sound of a train's whistle. Harry got up and looked around. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Wasgoin on?" Ron asked sleepily and rolling over.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry said excitedly, "Look!"

Hermione and Ron were up in a nanosecond. There, down the hill, as scarlet as ever… was the Hogwarts Express!

"Whoo hoo!" Ron whooped, "We're on the right track."

"Literally," Hermione said, jumping up and down.

"Quick," said Harry, "We don't want to lose it." He disillusioned them all and they jumped on their brooms.

For the rest of the afternoon they followed the Express talking reminiscently about their years at Hogwarts.

"I wish we were going back this year," said Hermione with a sigh.

"We've got a job to do though," Harry said determinedly.

All their happy feelings were sapped away as they came back to reality and began to think forebodingly about their quest and the reason for it.

They followed the train till dusk keeping out of sight behind the clouds. They couldn't help think about the students in the train. All their friends from the DA, all their classmates and roommates. What would they think when they found out that the famous Harry Potter and his friends weren't coming back to Hogwarts? Neville and Luna had probably already searched the train for them. And what about Ginny? How did she feel about their leaving? Sad? Furious? Betrayed?

Then questions like 'will we ever see them again?' ran through their heads.

Harry rode through the night watching the lights of the Hogwarts Express shine through the darkness. If they hadn't been on such an important mission he would be down there, laughing with Ginny and probably Neville and Luna too. He knew Ron and Hermione were thinking along the same lines because they were looking longingly at the train with unfocused eyes.

Harry gave himself a mental shake. He shouldn't be thinking about the past and what could have been; he had to concentrate on the present and the quest.

He looked down and saw that the train was slowing down. They must be approaching Hosmeade Station. Harry, Ron, and Hermione would either have to get to Hogsmeade first or wait for all the students to clear out.

They tried to hurry so they could beat the train, but Ron and Hermione's brooms weren't as fast as Harry's and he was forced to wait for them. So they arrived above the station in second place. Hovering high above the crowd that was now on the platform, Harry spotted familiar faces. There was Crabbe and Goyle. Obviously Malfoy was still working for Voldemort and of course wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts either.

Harry noticed other people were missing as well. Both Patils weren't there from what he could see. He supposed that their parents didn't think Hogwarts safe anymore because of what had happened last year. How many other concerned parents or guardians thought the same? Not Neville or Luna's apparently. As Harry had expected, they were with a resigned looking Ginny. They were discussing something very intensely and quietly.

Then it clicked. _Ginny must have been in contact with them both over the summer_. He thought, _That's why she has been disappearing and locking herself in her room. She had been writing to them and telling them all her suspicions. _

Then he remembered the summer right before his fourth year at Hogwarts. They had climbed Stoatshead Hill and were gathered around the portkey. Mr. Weasley had asked Mr. Diggory if anyone else in the area were coming and Mr. Diggory had said that the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets and that the _Lovegoods _had already been at the World Cup grounds for a week.

_That means that the Lovegoods live near the Weasleys! _He thought excitedly, _That's where Ginny had disappeared to the day of Lupin and Tonks' visit. _

It was all coming together. So this was why Neville had talked to Ginny in Diagon Alley and not even said hello to them. Everything fit.

He leaned over on his broom and told Ron and Hermione his suspicions. They heard him out with rapt attention.

"How could we have been so _stupid_?" Hermione asked for the second time in two days, "Of course! She was meeting Luna and was writing to Neville. That's why Neville talked to her in Diagon Alley too. You're absolutely right Harry."

"I don't believe it," Ron said, astounded, "Right under our noses! She was talking to them right under our noses and we didn't figure it out!"

"Very good aren't they?" Harry said thinking fondly of their three friends on the platform below, "They're just like us."

The three of them watched Ginny, Neville and Luna make their way towards the Thestral-drawn-carriages and then waited impatiently for the rest of the students to load. They saw Ernie McMillan, Hannah Abbot, and a few other fellow DA Hufflepuffs grab a carriage. They also saw the Creevy brothers and a few DA Ravenclaws take a carriage as well. They heard the familiar voice of Hagrid float up to them calling "Firs' Years! Firs' Years!"

Then Harry noticed a bunch of aurors standing on the sidelines watching the apparition looking up, down and around for signs of suspicious activity.

"Let's get higher before those aurors see us." Harry said indicating to the group of trained wizards below. Hermione and Ron obeyed and they were all above the clouds.

A full moon was shining above them, illuminating the cloud's surface. It was beautiful up here, away from the world of trouble that was below. They had only the stars, moon, and each other for company. The clouds were like a floor, keeping the rays of the moon's light from getting to the people below. Feeling a wild happiness Harry grinned at the others. No one would see them above the clouds on a night like this. This was their last chance to have some fun before they really got to work.

The other two looked back at him, thinking the same thing.

"Race you to the Shack!" Harry cried. And with that he sped off. Harry did a few loop de loops for fun, letting them catch up. They stopped above the Shrieking Shack and Harry and Ron decided to do a few maneuvers just to show off. Hermione plucked up her courage and joined in. She was actually quite a good flyer now. Not quite like Harry and Ron, but they had had more practice.

Hermione laughed, this was actually quite fun! She felt like doing a loop de loop. Watching Harry carefully as he did one, she copied him.

They were all laughing. The students at Hogwarts were probably in the Great Hall right now listening to the Sorting while they were up here having the time of their lives. Harry knew which situation he preferred.

Ron started telling jokes he had heard from Fred and George. They of course were hilarious. The friends laughed and laughed until they couldn't laugh any more.

Feeling tired and hungry, they landed behind the Shrieking Shack out of view of the village below. After that they apparated into the Shack. Since they were closer, it was much easier to apparate with their heavy trunks.

They were now in the room Harry had thought ideal for dueling. They would make the place livable in the morning. Right now they felt like eating and getting some sleep. They explored and found that the Shack had a fireplace. Hermione did yet another complicated spell that made the smoke vanish as soon as it came so that it wouldn't go up the chimney and give away their position. How would it look to villagers if the haunted, abandoned, Shrieking Shack had smoke coming out of its chimney? Not very good.

After another truly amazing dinner, (was Hermione good or what?) they went up the creaking stairs and tried to get comfortable in one of the rooms. They put sleeping bags on the beds and fell asleep.

-:-

**A/N: **Well. It would seem as though we're on our way! How'd I do with this chapter? Did anybody like my unorthodox creatures?...Anybody? Please r&r! I couldn't bear it if I didn't get any input on my little creations! Keep watch for more chapters! More are on the way!

-EveningSongEnchantment


	7. Chapter 7: Getting Started

**A/N: **Chapter seven is here! YAY! Now we get settled in and start making plans….

**Disclaimer: **How many times do I have to say this? J.K. Rowling owns HP, not I!

**Chapter 7: Getting Started**

The next morning's sunlight shown through the slits in the boarded up Shack. Harry woke up to find Ron and Hermione awake discussing how they were going to set up base.

After a quick breakfast, they set to work. The first step was cleaning. They went throughout the Shack and using the cleaning spell 'scourgify' they tidied up. Dust and filth disappeared everywhere. There wasn't anything in the house except a few beds up stairs and a wooden chair downstairs.

In the study, Hermione conjured a few armchairs and a sofa to make the room homier. She put a big table in the middle of the room and lamps all around the walls. A small bookshelf was put in the corner for them to put their books, parchment, and quills on. The room sill looked gloomy so she conjured scarlet and gold fabric to put on the walls.

"It'll look more like the Gryffindor common room." She said.

After she had put the hangings up, the room certainly looked more cheerful. Feeling that they had done a good job, they continued to the dueling room. They put up a barrier from which one person could watch while the other two dueled.

The room with the fireplace became something like a kitchen. There was a table for eating and a few smaller tables were put up to prepare food on. Hermione came up with a makeshift pantry and ice box by taking two crates and putting shelves in them. In one of the crates, the one that was going to be the ice box, she put packs of ice to keep it cool. Pleased with the room, they continued up the stairs.

There was only one bedroom. It had a single bed with a broken frame. Hermione repaired the frame with a simple "_Reparo" _and set to work on trying to make two more beds. After finishing two more bed frames, Hermione transformed the broken door into two mattresses.

"I don't know how you do it Hermione," Ron said in awe.

Hermione grinned and placed the mattresses on the other beds. Then she put sleeping bags on them. The rest of the day was spent repairing most of the serious faults in the house. The stair case's steps had enormous cracks in them and were easily restored to a new looking plank of wood. The banisters were done too.

By the end of the day the friends had a cozy base to come back to after they left for the first horcrux. Feeling satisfied, the three friends flopped down in the study and discussed their plans.

"I want to go to Godric's Hollow tomorrow," Harry said, "After that we can try Voldemort's old orphanage."

"How will we get there?" Hermione asked, "We don't know what it looks like so we won't be able to apparate."

"Hmm…" Harry said, "You've got a point there. Maybe there are some pictures in my old album."

Harry got up and went over to his trunk. Ron and Hermione followed him and peered over his shoulder as he pushed aside his sneakoscope and ominoculars. Harry wasn't the tidy kind of type so it was nearly impossible to find anything in his luggage. Finally, he fished out the leather-bound album Hagrid had given him.

He opened the album and walked over to a chair and sat down, riffling through the pages. There were his mother and father staring up at him waving. Harry wished he could have gotten to know them better; but Voldemort had ensured that he would never be able to meet them.

He finally found a page with the Potters positioned outside a quaint little cottage.

"There you go," He said, handing the album to the other two. Hermione took it and looked at the picture.

"So these are your parents?" She asked, "Wow, people are right. You _do _look like your dad."

"Well of course—" Harry said but stopped short. It had dawned on him that Ron and Hermione had never seen his parents. Harry had seen them in the mirror of Erised, in the pensieve, and in the photos. It never occurred to him that he had never shown his two best friends these pictures.

"Yep," Ron said, "And there are the green eyes." He pointed to Lily's shamrock green eyes.

Harry smiled, the only difference between him and his dad was that he had his mother's eyes and the scar that Voldemort had given him.

Just thinking about Voldemort made his stomach clench. How could one person cause so much pain and suffering in the world?

_It doesn't matter, _Harry thought, _we'll soon be rid of him anyways. _

Then he started showing Ron and Hermione all the pictures in the album.

"There's their wedding…"

For a whole half-hour he showed them the happy lives of his parents. When the last photo had been observed, Hermione snapped the album shut.

"How could such happy lives be disrupted by so much pain?" She asked sadly, "Their lives were just… taken away from them. Cut short… dismantled… how could anyone do such a thing?"

Harry snorted, "How can anyone kill, kidnap, or torture? I'll tell you how. It just takes the knowledge and the will to do it. You have to know how to do it and be willing to do it. Voldemort doesn't care about anyone but himself. He has no friends. Allies, maybe, but not friends."

Hermione and Ron were astonished at his short speech.

"Well," Hermione finally said, "well, we have an advantage over him don't we?"

Harry grinned, "No one can beat the likes of us when were together right? No pack of enchantments, no monstrous creatures, and the Death Eaters can't seem to cope very well when we're around."

Ron and Hermione sniggered. It was true, that had been through a lot together. They had beaten a troll and a collection of enchantments in their first year. That in itself was amazing. Then they had faced many beasts and obstacles in their following years. Twice they had befuddled the Death Eaters and come out victorious. Nothing seemed to be able to penetrate their iron clad relationship. Nothing.

Feeling as though they had finally got somewhere, the three of them went to bed with light hearts. Harry could hear Ron snoring and Hermione breathing peacefully. But he couldn't get to sleep. He tossed and turned, thinking about all those people he was doing this for. Tomorrow they would really start their quest. With that in mind, he fell asleep.

He was in a yard now, outside a quaint little cottage. His mother and father were with him and Sirius was there too. He saw a baby sitting on the ground pulling up clumps of grass. Not just any baby… him!

"Come on Lily," James was saying, "Don't you want to even try the broom? It's quite a smooth ride."

"I don't know," Lily said, looking apprehensively at the broomstick in her husband's hand, "The muggles will see."

"Not if we fly low to the ground they won't." James contradicted her, "Come on darling, please?"

"Well…" Lily said, "Alright. But only because you insist." She smiled fondly at James and walked over to where he was standing holding his broom.

"What about Harry?" Lily asked, stopping and looking at baby Harry uncertainly.

"He'll be fine," said Sirius, walking over to his godson and picking him up, "he's got me here. Hey! You little squirt!" For Harry had smudged his grimy hands all over Sirius' face and cascaded him with freshly picked blades of grass. Little Harry squealed and laughed in a baby-like manner as Sirius tickled him for revenge.

Lily looked at Sirius doubtfully as if she weren't sure he could handle Harry.

"Go on!" Sirius said. Then he grinned, "If I can handle James I can handle anything this tyke can throw at me."

Present day Harry watched as his mother made her way over to his father, who was sitting on the broom holding his hands out to his wife. She swung her leg gracefully over the broom and held tight to James' waist.

"Why don't we bring Harry along?" James asked smiling down at his son, who was now wiggling in Sirius' grasp.

"Certainly not!" Lily said indignantly, "What if he were to fall?"

"Okay, okay," James said, holding his hands up in surrender, "have it your way." And with that he took off. He zoomed around the yard with his wife clutching desperately to him. Making sure he couldn't be seen, James flew a little higher.

Lily gradually relaxed and looked at the world from above. A smile broke out on her face and she laughed. A sweet, ringing laugh it was. Harry couldn't help but smile as his mother experienced, apparently for the first time, what he knew to be a glorious sensation.

James raised his eyebrows in delight at his wife's enthusiasm. Then he asked her, "Care to do something a little more difficult?"

Lily frowned, thinking. Then she gave her husband a smile, "Okay, but nothing too difficult."

James grinned mischievously and waggled his eyebrows at Sirius. Who returned his gesture with a cocked eyebrow.

James took a deep breath and dived for the ground, going into a loop-de-loop at the last possible second. Lily was screaming the whole way.

Harry saw James look over his shoulder at his wife and cocked his head innocently.

"Never… do… a stunt… like that again," Lily said, taking in breaths of the cool night air, clutching her heart.

"Whatever you say," James said, laughing.

They soared through the air a few minutes longer and then returned to the ground where baby Harry and Sirius were waiting.

Sirius was looking happily at the couple while he bounced Harry up and down. Lily soon took his burden from him and cooed to her beloved baby.

James put his hand on his wife's shoulder and leaned close to Harry, tickling his chin. Baby Harry gave a little giggle and reached up. Grabbing his father's shirt collar, he pulled James towards him.

"Oh ho," Sirius said with smile on his face, "Smart kid you've got there James. He already knows how to respond to his daddy's affection."

Then the dream started to fade as Sirius, his parents, and his baby self went through the back door into the house.

Harry woke up to find himself in his bed in the Shrieking Shack. He stared at the ceiling, wishing his dream would never have ended. Had it only been a dream? Or was it a memory? Obviously the dream had taken place at Godric's Hollow; probably at the beginning of all the tragedy.

_At least they were happy, _he thought. Harry sat up and leaned against the bed's headboard. Seeing his parents again made him think sorrowfully about the life that he could have had.

He clenched his fists. The life he _would _have had if Voldemort hadn't torn everything apart. Harry felt a tear slide down his cheek. How he wished none of this had happened. How he wished he could have had a normal, wonderful, Voldemort-free life.

Suddenly Harry realized he probably wasn't alone in this respect. He thought of Neville. Did he ever have memories spring up in his dreams? Of his parents and the times before Voldemort's supporters changed his life forever? Harry didn't know. It was likely that he did.

It was comforting to know that he wasn't the only one who had suffered the loss of parents because of the war. It was cruel, yes; but it comforted him all the same. Neville still had his parents, that was true. But they didn't recognize him or speak properly to him. Neville actually had it worse than Harry did.

Pity welled up inside Harry as he thought of Neville. What kind of a life could he have had if his parents hadn't been tortured to insanity? Neville didn't know about the prophecy that was a good thing; it would only make the whole situation worse.

_But the Longbottoms hadn't been targets because of the prophecy, _Harry reminded himself, _They had been tortured because Death Eaters had thought they had information. _

If Neville knew about the prophecy he might think that there was another reason his parents were insane. It all led down to Voldemort. It was because of Voldemort that all of this suffering started. It was because of Voldemort that countless people couldn't sleep at night because of their fear. Voldemort was a pitiless, merciless, vile creature who didn't give a toss about what his actions did to other people's lives.

Harry wondered if he had grown up differently, if Voldemort hadn't grown up in an orphanage, hating his father, if Voldemort would be different. Harry doubted it. But then again… would he be different?

It took a while for Harry's restless mind to stop thinking, but when it did, Harry was back asleep in no time.

-:-

**A/N: **How was the flash-back folks? Did you like Lily, James, and Sirius?

Be on the look out for Chapter Eight everybody! Coming soon to a certain fanfiction site near you! It just takes a click of the button to see it all! 

-EveningSongEnchantment


	8. Chapter 8: Godric's Hollow

**A/N: Okay. This bits kind of corny…but I had to write it! Hermione herself admits it is…but you see that in a minute. If you read it that is! It's my longest work yet! Sorry it took so long, but I had to write a lot and then it wouldn't upload right! But it's finally here.  
-EveningSongEnchantment**

**Disclaimer: Alright. We've been through this before. J.K. ROWLING OWNS HARRY POTTER! _NOT_ ME!**

**Chapter 8: Godric's Hollow**

Ron woke up the next morning feeling cold dread course through his whole body. Today he was about to embark on an epic adventure. One that was liable to get them all killed.

Not that he regretted his decision to travel with Harry, oh no. This was just another enchanted chess board right? Except… on a bigger scale.

He trembled to think of the dangers that were ahead. But they had gotten through so much already. If they could handle giant monsters of Hagrid's and enchanted rooms full of dark and dangerous objects (Ron shuddered at the memory of flying brains), they could handle anything Voldemort could hurl at them right?

_But as far as we know, the only wizard to attempt such a thing is dead,_ he thought. He shook himself. _But many wizards haven't gone through what we have at so young an age, _He reminded himself.

He shuddered again and looked over at Hermione. She was slumbering peacefully on the bigger bed. _I wonder what she dreams about. He thought to himself, and then hopefully he thought, me? Nah._

Ron leapt out of bed and walked over to Harry. He saw that his friend's blankets and pillow were strewn all over his bed. _Probably having bad dreams or couldn't get to sleep, not that I blame him._

Ron leapt out of bed and walked over to Harry. He saw that his friend's blankets and pillow were strewn all over his bed. 

He picked up the photo album they had been looking at the night before. It lay open to the page with the cottage in it. His parents look like they were really nice people. _Wonder if they ever thought about Harry's future without them? _

_Don't think about that,_ he chided himself, _It's bad enough that Harry doesn't have them at all, but to think about them in that sort of way? How would you like it if your parents weren't around?_

He stopped himself. He wouldn't feel very good that was for sure.

For the second time that day he shook himself. Why was he dwelling on such horrible thoughts? The sound of squeaking bed springs roused him from his mind's labyrinth of corridors. He turned to see Hermione throw off her covers and walk to her trunk. She dug out of her neatly organized belongings a tank-top and jeans. Ron followed her example and went over to his trunk as well. He looked inside to find a jumble of his few belongings. He took out a T-shirt and shorts. They were all dressing in muggle clothes again. It suited their purpose to look like muggles in the muggle world. If any wizards saw them they probably wouldn't give them a second glance. Which was a good thing considering Harry was famous and Ron had the Weasley trademark of red hair. Hermione went downstairs to change and start breakfast while Ron put on his clothes. As he slipped on his shirt, Harry woke up. "Morning," He grunted and rubbed his eyes, "I didn't get much sleep last night"  
"Bad dreams?" Ron asked sympathetically. "No," Harry replied thoughtfully, bringing a far away look into his eyes. He looked at the album and blinked. "I'll tell you at breakfast," He said, meeting Ron's anxious gaze. Ron shrugged and resumed his activity of getting dressed. Harry went over to his trunk and put the album in it. He took out a T-shirt like Ron and some jeans; all the while thinking about the new memory that had come up in his dream last night. For he had resolved that it must have been a memory. Hermione came up the stairs just then and poked her head in the room. "Ready?" "Just a second," Harry said, pulling on his socks, "I'll be down in a minute, you two go ahead"  
Ron looked at him concerned. "I'm fine, go on." Hermione left down the stairs and Ron followed. When they were gone Harry sat down on his bed and continued thinking about the dream he had had. It had definitely been a memory. How else could the cottage, his parents, and Sirius have come together? He remembered how he had smudged Sirius' face with dirt and smiled. It was good to have a new memory to live on. Harry got up and descended the stairs to the kitchen. He opened the door to see Hermione and Ron break off in conversation. Ron must have been telling Hermione how Harry was acting. Hermione looked at Harry troubled. She opened her mouth to say something but Harry interrupted,  
"I'm fine. Really, it was just a dream I had," He said,  
"I thought—?" Ron started. "No," Harry said, "Not that kind of dream." And he proceeded to tell them what he had seen in his dream. When he finished the other two were silent. Harry looked at them waiting for a response. "Well," Hermione said, "That was…" Plainly she was at loss for words. She stared at the table, and then she went over to the frying pan where bacon was cooking. After a few minutes she started buttering toast while she watched the eggs. When she had finished she set a plate full of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of each of the boys and sat down at the table herself. She pulled a plate towards her and loaded it with her breakfast. They ate in silence, thinking about the day ahead. Harry watched as Ron picked at his food. "I wish I had brought Crookshanks," Hermione said looking forlorn, "But he wouldn't have liked the journey." "Neither would Hedwig or Pigwidgeon," said Ron.  
The rest of the meal there was no conversation. Just thinking. Harry finished his food first. He got up from the table and went upstairs to get the photo album. That way, Hermione and Ron could get another look at the cottage to make sure they got there. He took the album off the bed and noticed that he had left his trunk open. He was about to close it when he spotted the Marauders map. _It couldn't hurt to see how everyone was doing_, he thought. So he picked it up, pointed his wand at it and said "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_"  
Dots and the passageways of Hogwarts appeared on the old piece of parchment. Harry noticed that they must have slept late. Classes had already started. He quickly scanned it for his closest friends. Hagrid was in front of his cabin, evidently he had just finished a class because a number of dots were departing towards the castle. Ginny and Luna were walking out of the Transfiguration classroom together and Neville was with Dean and Seamus coming out of Charms. The two groups met and Neville joined Ginny and Luna for a few minutes. _Good_, Harry thought, _they're sticking together_. _I wonder what they're up to_. He watched as Neville turned and went in the direction of the entrance hall. He must be making his way to Herbology.  
After watching his friends make their way to their various classes, he pointed his wand at the map and said, "_Mischief managed_." The writing on the map disappeared and Harry folded the map. He placed it on the top of a jumble of wizard's robes and closed the lid to the trunk. Then he hurried downstairs to Ron and Hermione. They weren't in the kitchen, so he checked the study. Not finding them there he looked into the dueling room. Ron had just disarmed Hermione and was now handing her wand back to her. "Practicing?" Harry asked. The other two jumped and spun around, wands raised. "Oh," Hermione said. Ron grinned, "It seems as though we're always doing that now." "I know what you mean," Harry agreed. He handed the album to Hermione, "Have another look at the picture, just to make sure." She took the book from him and stared at the picture in concentration. Ron looked over her shoulder and stared at the photograph. "Got a good idea of where we're going?" asked Harry. "Yeah," Ron said, looking up at him, "Yeah, I reckon I do." Hermione closed the album and walked across the hall to the study. There she placed it on the shelf of the small bookcase and strode back to Ron and Harry. "All set," she stated, wand out and ready if they met any trouble. She took a deep breath, "One"  
"Two…" Harry said concentrating on the yard he had seen in his dream. "Three"  
Harry heard two cracks before he was enveloped in darkness. The next second he was in the middle of a field on the outskirts of a little village. He looked around, but didn't see Hermione or Ron. Where were they? He turned completely around, looking this way and that. They weren't on his left, nor were they on his right. In fact, they weren't even in the field. Panic rose in him as he ran a few yards in one direction. Had something gone wrong in the apparition process? Were they okay? Maybe they were somewhere near by. He noticed a hill ahead. He ran to the crest and looked around. There was still no sign of his friends. But below was what looked like a cemetery, surrounded by woods. If they were in the area they would surely think to go there. Harry walked as quickly as he could to the gates, the place was deserted. Fear coursed through him. What if they had gotten splinched? Or lost? Stop that, he told himself, they'll be here. Harry didn't know how long he waited, but sometime later there was rustling in the bushes behind him. "James?" A voice asked incredulously, it wasn't Ron or Hermione's voice. Harry whirled around. Standing before him was an old man, about sixty or seventy. He had gray hair and sharp, brown eyes. He had olive skin and seemed to be fit. He had almost no wrinkles; you couldn't tell he was so old until you looked at his hair, which was neatly kept. He stood abnormally straight for a man so old. He wore gloves and in his hands were a pair of pruning shears. His expression was curious and alarmed. "What did you just say?" Harry asked nervously. Had this man possibly known his father? If so, he would have to be very careful about what he said. The man studied him for a moment, his eyes traveled to Harry's scar and then his face fell slightly, "Sorry" he muttered, "Thought you were someone else." He turned to leave.  
"Wait!" Harry cried. A thought had just occurred to him. The man stopped. He slowly turned around and peered at Harry cautiously.  
"My name's Harry," Harry said, the man's eyes widened in surprise. Then he frowned and studied Harry critically. His eyes locked with Harry's, who saw recognition in them. "You haven't noticed two people about my age around have you? A bushy-haired girl and a tall, red-haired boy?" Harry's tone was anxious.  
"Hmm…" The man said, still staring at Harry, thinking. "No, I can't say that I have. I'm sure they'll turn up though," he added at Harry's look of dismay.  
Harry bit his lip, what if something had happened? He never should have let them come; they were all still amateurs when it came to apparition. The old man opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it just as quick. He looked at the ground for a moment and then set his jaw. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Harry Potter would it?" he asked bringing his head up to stare into Harry's eyes. Harry didn't respond right away, he weighed his options. He could either tell the man that he was and risk accidentally letting something slip; or he could lie and say he wasn't. That wouldn't do much good though, considering he had already given his first name and looked so much like his dad. He made up his mind. "Yes," he replied simply.  
The man's eyes filled with tears. "James and Lily's son?" He inquired. Harry nodded. The old man dropped his gaze to the ground and murmured to himself, "Never knew the boy had survived… horrible night that was… house in ruins…bodies lying there…" He looked at Harry and squared his shoulders.  
"The name's Bruce Wade," he said, "I was your parents' neighbor just beyond that hill over there." He pointed to the rise that Harry had come over. "Nice to meet you Mr. Wade," Harry said, holding out his hand. "The pleasure's all mine boy," said Mr. Wade taking his hand, "but call me Bruce." "Bruce," Harry repeated trying the name, it felt much better than Mr. Wade.  
Bruce hesitated, "Might I ask what you're doing here? You haven't been around here before as far as I can tell." Harry had already thought out how to respond. "A friend of my parents dug me out of the rubble and sent me to live with my aunt and uncle," he said. It was true enough. A half-truth maybe, but true. "I wasn't able to come here till now due to…difficulties." Bruce smiled. "You look just like your dad," He said, "Except your eyes. You have your mum's eyes." It was Harry's turn to smile. "Yeah, I hear that a lot," he said. Then he sobered, "I was hoping to visit their graves before I went on a trip." Bruce nodded sadly, "Follow me." Bruce led him down to the cemetery and through the rows of neatly kept graves. "I'm the gardener for this place," he said casually, "Been doing the job ever since my retirement." He stopped at two small, granite markers. "There they are," he said simply. Harry bent down to have a closer look. Like all the other graves close by, they were decorated beautifully with flowers. His mother had daffodils in front of hers and his father had snapdragons. He grinned, they seemed perfect. Then his gaze turned to what was engraved on the stone.

_Lily Potter 1960-1981_

_James Potter 1960-1981_

Lily's headstone was decorated with vines and birds around a pond. Lilies were placed here and there to make the scene even more peaceful. James' had a forest with deer galloping through a clearing._ Figures_, Harry thought, _he would have that. Since his animagus had been a stag. I wonder who paid to have these decorated?  
_When he asked Bruce he shrugged, "A bunch of money and a request for the decoration came anonymously." Harry knew who had paid for it now. It must have been the Order and all the other wizards who had known his parents.  
As Harry stood up he heard the breaking of a twig behind him. He spun around with lightning fast reflexes.  
There was Hermione. She was tangled in a bush and couldn't seem to get out. "Hermione!" he cried, hastening to help her. She disentangled herself and tripped. She shook broken twigs and leaves out of her hair and looked up. "Harry!" she shrieked, obviously delighted. Harry helped her to her feet. "Where's Ron?" He asked looking around. "I don't know," Hermione said, looking around too, "He was right—" She was interrupted by the sound of someone cursing. She quickly stepped aside, making way for Ron. He tumbled out into the open with his right foot stuck in the bush Hermione had just gotten out of. Grinning, Harry assisted Hermione in extracting Ron from the bush's clutches. Harry pulled backward and tripped over a rock, pulling Ron and Hermione with him. They lay in a tangled heap on the ground, laughing. Bruce came over. "So these are your friends?" he said, casting an eye over Ron and Hermione. Realizing he was there, Ron and Hermione looked at Harry uncertainly. Harry nodded, giving them the signal that it was okay. Hermione hurriedly got to her feet and exposed her manners, "How do you do?" she asked, holding out her hand, which was taken by Bruce enthusiastically, "I'm Hermione Granger"  
"Delighted to meet you miss," Bruce said, shaking her hand.  
After Ron had introduced himself and shaken hands, Harry told them how he had met Bruce and what had happened since they had left the Shrieking Shack. Ron and Hermione in turn gave him an explanation of where they had been.  
"We got lost," Hermione said.  
"Yeah," Ron continued, "And we met in the wood just there, and tried to find you. And since we don't know the area… well, you get the point." He grinned at Hermione, who grinned back. Harry nodded. They were going to be in a lot of places like that soon. Bruce looked at his watch, "Blimey! It's already one o'clock." He turned to the three teenagers. "Why don't you come over to my place for lunch?" he asked, "We can talk more over there." Harry thought for a moment. They were supposed to be at the orphanage right now. Just then Ron's stomach rumbled in hunger. Ron looked at Harry and shrugged. Harry grinned. "Alright." They followed Bruce over the hill to the place where Harry had been earlier. He had been in too much of a hurry to notice ruins of what used to be a house. Harry guessed it had been the cottage. He stopped, looking at the remains of what used to be his home. "Yeah," Bruce said, looking at the rubble sadly, "There it is." Confirming Harry's suspicions. "Quite happy they were," Bruce said offhandedly, "after a while though, after you were born," He looked at Harry, "They seemed worried about something. Of course I never said anything, just dropped in once and a while for a visit." He shrugged and went to wait at the end of the field for them. Harry picked around the debris, trying to remember what the house had been like. He came to the far end of what seemed to be a room and saw something wooden. He looked closer and saw that it was a crib. Was this where Voldemort had killed Lily? Visions of that night came back to him.  
"_Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off_"  
Harry remembered his father stumbling out of the room to meet Voldemort. Then there was high pitched laughter, and a door bursting open. Then there was the screaming,  
"_Not Harry! Not Harry! Please—I'll do anything_"  
"_Stand aside. Stand aside, girl_!" Harry remembered more screaming, and a blinding green light. This time there was screaming of pain. More high pitched cackling had come from Voldemort and then… Harry couldn't remember what happened after that. He knew what had happened, but didn't remember. Because of his mother's sacrifice, Voldemort had lost his powers trying to kill him. The house had been destroyed in the process of the backfiring so that there was nothing left. Harry came back to the present and looked at the crib. Then suddenly, a memory was flooding back to him. Someone else had screamed that night.

_"No!" A deep, familiar voice had cried. Harry remembered a series of crashing and thumping. Someone had been tearing through what had been his room towards him. He remembered being picked up, almost unconscious and being carried out into the night. After that he had heard the person muttering to himself and set him down in the wreckage. What must have been hours later, someone else came and Harry awoke, crying. "Ye poor thing," Hagrid's choked voice had said. He leaned over and picked Harry up holding him close to his chest and saying "Shh"  
Then there was the sound of a motor. Harry heard the motor stop and someone climb slowly off a motorcycle seat. There was silence as the person surveyed the scene. Hagrid tried to console Sirius, but he was silent. Then Sirius' voice came out of the night.  
"Give Harry to me, Hagrid,I'm his godfather, I'll look after him." "No," Was Hagrid's reply, "I've got orders from Dumbledore, he's ter go ter his aunt and uncle." "But **I'm **his legal guardian." argued Sirius, "Lily and James would have wanted him to come to me. I could tell him more about his parents than those **muggles** could." "Dumbledore's orders, I'm sure he knows best," They kept arguing and arguing. Finally Sirius said in a defeated tone, "Fine. Take my motorbike, I won't need it anymore"  
He heard Sirius walking away miserably. Hagrid hesitated, and then climbed onto the motorbike. He turned the ignition and started the motor. Then he roared into the sky. Then Harry soon fell asleep, only to be woken up by Aunt Petunia's scream the next morning as she saw her nephew on her doorstep._

"Harry?" Hermione's voice asked anxiously. Harry quickly came out of his reverie. Ron and Hermione were both looking at him in concern. Harry blinked. How long had he been standing there? "I'm fine," he said. How many times had he said that in the past week now? Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks. "I just…had a memory." He continued to tell them of what he remembered. As he finished Hermione said, "But who else was here that night?" She gestured to the ruins.  
"Dunno," Harry said. He had been wondering that too. To whom did the familiar voice belong? He knew the person well, but he couldn't put his finger on who it was. Then something in the rubble caught his eye. He bent down to examine a small glinting object. It was a glass-ceramic figure of a lily and a stag. Harry picked it up and held it up for the others to see. "Well," Hermione said, astonished, "I'm surprised it survived the destruction of the house." "Kinda represents both your parents eh?" Ron asked, staring at the figure.  
Harry smiled, "Yeah. It does." He pocketed the figure and looked around. Ron exclaimed and dove to the ground, heaving a cabinet out of the way. Underneath were more of what seemed to be treasured objects. Harry noticed headboy and headgirl badges, and a trophy belonging to his father's Gryffindor Quidditch team. Then there was a picture of Harry, of the Order, and of Harry and his parents. All were frayed on the edges and the glass around them had shattered. Hermione conjured a bag to put anything else they found in. It seemed the cabinet was protected an Unbreakable Charm. After looking thoroughly, a few more items turned up. There was a book on animagus transformations ("Oooh!" Hermione had cried when she saw it, "It's really rare. This must be the only book of its kind. So this is how they became animaguses. Well, it probably helped anyway."). They also found a jeweled Hogwarts pin which had all the founders on it and an album of what seemed to be Lily and James' years at Hogwarts.  
Elated with their finds, the three friends put everything they had found into the bag and went to where Bruce was waiting. He watched them as they approached.  
"Done?" he asked. "Yes," Harry said, feeling a little depressed that he hadn't gotten to know his parents better and wasn't able to know what the significance was about some of the objects they had discovered. "My house is this way," Bruce pointed into the woods. They trudged through the underbrush in the direction Bruce had indicated. Bruce started whistling as they came onto what must have been a familiar path. They reached a little hollow like the one Harry's parents had lived in and saw a little log cabin. The grounds around it were beautifully kept, almost as nice as the grounds at Hogwarts if not nicer; though, they were much smaller. It was teeming with wildlife from foxes to robins. "It's not much," Bruce said, "But I don't have any family, so this is just the right size"  
Harry, Ron and Hermione stared in awe at the beauty of the place. There were stone benches here and there on which foxes, badgers, and other animals of that sort sat. Smaller animals like mice, rabbits, and birds peeked out from within the trees. Deer were coming in and out of the clearing to drink from a little stream that ran through it. It was an animal paradise here. Bruce smiled at their evident wonder. "The animals keep me company as you can see. They are about the only visitors I get these days." He smiled sadly.  
"It must be lonely," Hermione said sympathetically. "You could say that," Bruce said then he perked up, "I want you to meet a special friend of mine." He led them past the quaint little cabin to stone fountain beyond. They looked in and saw fish of every color in it. It seemed like a big enough aquarium for them all; they swam to and fro in little schools. Bruce led them past the fountain and into the trees once again. Animals fallowed them everywhere they went. Peeking out at the new humans and sniffing them. They seemed to think Harry, Ron and Hermione safe and came a little closer. "It's like this guy knows some kind of magic we don't," Ron commented in a whisper as he watched a chipmunk come out of its hole to get a look at them. Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Not that you know much magic Ron. As you can see he's just friendly with the animals." Ron's ears went red. Bruce guided them on. They soon came to a lake. In the water were water birds and even more fish. Bruce made clicking noises with his tongue and something in the water made its way towards them. It was an otter; its swishing movements made ripples in the water, forming an arrow. "Meet Sandie," Bruce said happily, beaming at the otter, "I rescued her from a net in the ocean a few years ago when I was visiting my cousin. Of course I set her free once she was able, but she followed me everywhere and I couldn't get rid of her. After I left, my cousin called me up to say that she was hanging around the shore waiting for me. Afraid that she might get hurt by humans, I brought her here." Sandie slapped the water joyfully and twirled in circles. Bruce smiled. "We've been friends ever since. She always comes when I'm near here and begs me for attention." He crouched down and rubbed the otter under the chin. Sandie leaned into the rub and made contented otter sounds. Bruce stood up and pointed her in the direction of the ducks. Sandie swam away and stopped where the ducks were stationed, watching her beloved human. Bruce did a sequence of movements with his arms. The otter immediately started acrobatics, jumping in and out of the water, and spinning in circles. The ducks scattered and flew away, and landed indignantly on the shore. They squawked at the otter furiously and ruffled their wings. Bruce chuckled and continued what appeared to be a practiced routine. When he and Sandie had finished their performance they were presented with enthusiastic applause from the trio. Bruce bowed and the otter did a back flip. The three friends laughed and clapped harder. Eventually they all stopped and watched as Bruce gave Sandie one last pat. Then he turned to them and said, "Who's ready for lunch?" They all traipsed back to the cabin. It was small but charming. There was a kitchen with a table, a small bedroom, and a living room with a fireplace. Bruce hastened to make some stew. He seemed to be a vegetarian. Judging by the way the animals acted towards him, Harry didn't blame him. They talked and ate. The conversation was mainly about the animals and grounds that Bruce had kept so well tended. "Yep," Bruce said lying back in his chair contentedly "It's a good life around here. I don't visit the village much; just when I need supplies. I prefer to stay with the animals. I do appreciate visitors though." He looked at the three of them, "Especially young visitors," he added. Hermione smiled and started asking him more about Sandie. Ron and Harry joined in every once and a while. Then they relocated their conversation to the living room.  
They talked for hours on end. Harry smiled when he thought, _this guy is just like Hagrid; although not_.  
The sun started setting outside and it was then that Harry looked at his watch. He felt disappointment run through him. They were having a wonderful time here, but they should have been at the orphanage by now. He felt guilty, people were suffering because of Voldemort and here he was enjoying himself. Harry decided to take no more detours. They would start tomorrow at first light. Harry caught Ron and Hermione's eyes and pointed to his watch. They gasped and looked out the window. Bruce looked too. "It's getting late," he said, "Do you three need a place to stay for the night?" "No thank you," Harry said, "We've already got plans"  
Bruce nodded, "I'll see you to the door." They all got up and made for the exit. Bruce opened the door to the peaceful sounds of the night. "Come and visit again sometime," he said with a smile. Ron and Hermione smiled and Harry couldn't help but grin. "Good-bye," he said, holding out his hands, "We might just take you up on that offer." Bruce shook hands with everyone and watched them as they made their way to the field where the cottage had been. When they were out of sight they quickly apparated back to their base. Hermione turned to Harry. "What's the plan now?" she asked. "We'll leave tomorrow morning for the orphanage," Harry said.  
"Er—" Ron said. The other two looked at him, "Does anyone know where the orphanage is?" No, they didn't.

-:-

**A/N: Well. That didn't go too badly. Now for the questions:  
How will the trio find the orphanage? Is the orphanage the right place to look? What dangers will they meet if it is?  
And, most important of all, will they live to see Bruce again if they ever finish this hair-brained quest! Find out! All you have to do is keep reading my fic! -EveningSongEnchantment**


	9. Chapter 9: Together Again

**A/N: **Now we get some answers! Or is it just more questions and action? Who knows! Only I apparently. Here's the next chappie folks! I hope you all enjoy it very much.

**Disclaimer**: This is _not _written by J.K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter, if I did, I'd be rich! But I'm just a normal girl with a love for the books who can't seem to write as brilliantly as the infamous Jo Rowling!

**For Mysterious Mistress Kura, my first constant reader and reviewer who has been with me from the beginning. I now know that I can _always _expect a review from you! **

**Chapter 9: Together Again and Tragedy**

It took them nearly a week to find out where the orphanage was. They looked at all the maps of London they could find. Harry didn't know the exact location of the orphanage; he just knew it was in London somewhere.

They poured over maps all day, every day, but got nowhere. Finally, after another day of tiring map searching Hermione threw down her quill and whacked herself on the forehead.

"How could I have been so brainless?" She cried throwing up her hands, "They record everything!"

"Er—" Ron said looking bewilderedly at Harry, "What are you talking about Hermione?"

"Hogwarts registers students!" Hermione said as a matter-of-factly. Harry looked at her blankly and Ron said, "They do?"

"Ron," Hermione said furiously, her hands on her hips, "Hogwarts registers every student that comes into the school." She started walloping the table to emphasize her key words, "They know _where _you live, _who _you live with, _who_ your parents are…down to your very _street_ address!" She was red faced and huffing, how could they know so little about the school they went to?

"If you say so," Ron said, "But how does that help us?"

"You are the limit," she said almost disgustedly, "The information we need will be in the records at Hogwarts!"

"And you propose we just walk in there and take that information?" Ron asked.

"Of course not, we'll have to go in at night when most people are asleep."

"What about the aurors and all the other protections?"

"We'll have to find a way around them!"

"Just how do we do that?"

They fought on and on until Harry finally yelled, "STOP!" They both fell silent and looked at him.

"Now that I have your attention," Harry said looking at the pair of them, "Let's think this through."

And so they planned; for over an hour in fact. That night they would put their plan in action.

"Ouch!" Hermione said, "Ron you stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry," Ron said, "It's hard to walk over double."

The three friends were under the invisibility cloak making their way along the secret passage under the Whomping Willow. Their destination was Hogwarts' library. They would have to maneuver throughout the corridors and avoid aurors, teachers, and prefects. Then they would have to find the right records quickly and get out of Hogwarts as fast as they could.

They had all grown much too tall for the invisibility cloak, especially Ron; but aside from the Disillusioning Charm, it was their only choice. Aurors were more than likely trained to spot disillusioned persons, so they had to use the cloak. They had disillusioned themselves only because their feet might show.

They came to the end of the passage and climbed out with difficulty. They were now out in the open air under the stars. They sidled away from the tree as fast as they could and made for the Forbidden Forest.

"Okay," Harry said, "Here's the plan, if we meet any aurors you are to stay as still as possible. If we're discovered we might have to resort to stunning and make a run for it."

The other two nodded.

"Let's just hope no one finds us."

They set off across the grounds towards the castle. They had to dodge their first auror next to the greenhouses. She patrolled amongst the greenhouses, wand at the ready. They waited for her to pass them, and then scurried away. She didn't even turn around, hopefully the other auror experiences would turn out the same way.

They reached the oak doors that led into the entrance hall. Harry was about to perform the _Alohomora _charm when Hermione stopped him; grabbing his arm.

"It probably won't work, not with the new security measures. They probably have a Stealth Sensoring Spell on them," she said.

Harry looked around, how were they going to get in if not through the doors? Then he heard footsteps on the other side of the doors. He motioned the others back, making them get out of the way. There was a series of clinks and clangs as the doors unlocked, the friends pressed themselves against the wall just in time to avoid a tall figure coming out. A middle aged man about five foot ten strode passed them without a backwards glance. He seemed to be another auror; his wand was out and he was walking purposefully towards the greenhouses. Perhaps he was relieving the auror on duty.

But Harry didn't have much time to think about it, he, Ron, and Hermione quickly slipped through the open doors and into the entrance hall.

They met no one until they were in the corridor leading to the library. Someone came hurtling around the corner… or rather someones.

Ginny, Luna, and Neville were sneaking down the corridor at a fast pace, nearly running into Harry and the rest. But they quickly sidestepped them and pressed themselves against the wall.

When the three's footsteps faded Harry heard Hermione breathe a sigh of relief. He smiled and then noticed that Ron was silent.

"What's the matter?" he asked, he knew Ron was staring in the direction his sister had taken.

"What are they doing out of bed this late?" Ron asked, apparently still staring.

Hermione snorted, "We were out of bed this late before, and you didn't protest then."

Ron moved, Harry knew he was shifting to look at Hermion. "But we had reasons to be out."

"What makes you think they don't have reasons?" she retorted hotly, "And don't justify what we did, you could hardly call those 'reasons'."

Ron opened his mouth to argue but Harry quickly shut them both up, "Shh! Someone's coming."  
They watched and listened silently. They heard a dull clunking sound. _Clunk, clunk, _the noise came nearer. The sound of voices came with it.

"Mad-Eye!" Hermione whispered, "What'll we do? He can see through invisibility cloaks!"

"Let's go," Harry whispered just as quietly, "Make for that empty class room." He pointed to a door on the left. They quickly stole through the door directly in front of them and shut the door quietly. Then they dove under a desk for good measure. They waited silently as the clunking came to a stop at the end of the corridor.

"Don't know why you bother," Moody's gruff voice flitted into the room, "They'll be long gone by now."

"I bother because students out of bed are a danger to themselves," said a voice Harry recognized as Professor Slugohorn's.

"Maybe," Moody growled, "but we'll never catch up with them now, they'll already be back in their common room, I'm sure."

"Well… maybe they're hiding in an empty classroom. Like this one for instance."

Harry's heart leapt into his throat, they were about to come into the room! Maybe if he… There was no time to move to another room, the door handle slowly turned. Harry watched its progress helplessly, all tactics forgotten.

The door swung open revealing Slughorn and Mad-Eye Moody. None of the trio moved, they crouched motionless under the desk. Both men by the door looked carefully around the room. Moody's magical eye was swiveling this way and that. But it never came to rest on their hiding place.

"There's no one here," Moody growled, "let's forget it, I have a message to deliver to McGonagall."

With that they both left. Harry stayed where he was for a few minutes in case they came back. When they were sure that the two weren't coming back, they hastily crawled out from under the desk.

"That was close," Ron said. Harry nodded, and then remembered they couldn't see him properly.

"Yeah," he said instead.

"I wonder why he didn't see us?" Hermione said, puzzled. Then she was silent, thinking.

"Dunno," Harry said indifferently. "It's a good thing he didn't."

"Mmm…"

They sat for a little longer and then Ron said, "Let's get to the library and get out of here; before someone else finds us."

The other two agreed and they all left the classroom, peering cautiously through the crack in the door before doing so.

Seeing no one in the corridor, they swiftly made their way to the library. The doors were locked, but the _Alohomora_ charm worked on these doors.

Closing the door silently, Hermione threw off the cloak and proceeded down a row of shelves.

"Look on these shelves," she said pointing at the rows of papers and books behind her.

Having no idea what they were looking for, but still determined, Ron and Harry passed over the shelves looking at various documents that looked promising.

In the end, after what seemed to have been hours (although it was only half an hour), Hermione made a triumphant sound and pulled out a stack of papers.

"A list of students from fifty years ago! And it has their registration forms," she said jubilantly. She sat on the floor and began examining the lines on the parchment.

"Riddle…Riddle…" she turned page after page, running her index finger down the lines of words. It was taking her so long to scan the file that Ron was starting to get annoyed. He clicked his tongue impatiently.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, her patience gone as well, "but the fool who wrote this didn't do it alphabetically!"

After about five more minutes she finally cried, "Ah ha!"

Harry and Ron scurried over to her and tried to read the paper over her shoulder. But she shoved them away and replaced the document in the pile of un-alphabetized papers.

"It's number forty-two Burlington Street, Dunesburrow, Ervington. Hmm…" Hermione looked thoughtful, "Ervington, isn't very far from London. It's right next to it as a matter of fact."

"How—?" Ron started.

"I saw it on a map," Hermione snapped, "We've been through hundreds of them in case you haven't notice."

Harry and Ron stared at her.

"I don't know how you remember all these things Hermione," Ron said.

"Yeah," Harry said, "Sometimes I wonder if you have photographic memory."

They couldn't see it, but Hermione blushed. She was always getting comments like that.

"Anyway," Hermione said, "Let's get moving."

Ron went under the cloak, while Hermione put the stack of papers back on its shelf. Then she too slipped under the cloak. They left the library as quietly as they could. Their sneaking skills were quite excellent, due to their assortment of adventures.

They met no interference on that floor. But as they proceeded down the stairs, they saw an auror.

They tried to get out of the way quickly, but Ron was very awkward under the cloak. He tripped and tumbled head first into the auror; who was taken by surprise and his wand soared out of his hand down a few steps.

He threw himself at it, grabbed it and whirled around, sending a curse in their direction.

_BANG!_

A jet of red light narrowly missed Harry and Hermione who were still under the cloak. Ron had dived out of the way just in time.

"GO!" Harry roared, throwing the cloak off him so Hermione could run freely. He raced down the stairs, jumped over the auror and careened down another corridor. The others followed his lead, he could hear their pounding footsteps right behind him.

The auror was running too and was sending spells in their direction as fast as he could. Harry took out his wand, pointed it over his shoulder and thought, _STUPEFY! _

A spurt of red light hit their pursuer in the chest and he crumpled to the floor. But all the noise had attracted people from every direction.

He heard thumping footsteps above him, in the corridors next to him, and along the corridor ahead.

Someone whisked around the corner of the next corridor and sent a stunning spell their way.

Harry performed another jinx and saw that he wasn't the only one firing at the auror. Ron and Hermione had their wands out and were firing it in the new adversary's direction.

The man was disarmed and petrified at the same time. They kept on going, past him and dodged yet another person on the next flight of stairs.

They ran pell-mell towards the entrance, which was being barred shut. Harry heard Hermione mutter something with staggered breathing and the big oak doors swung open. They darted through them into the night air. Aurors on the grounds had been forewarned and were converging on the gates, blocking their way.

Harry, Ron and Hermione threw curse after curse, hex after hex. One by one their spells were deflected.

Harry was finally able to disarm the three in the middle and break through their ranks. Hermione and Ron were right behind him.

"STOP THEM!" One of the aurors cried, throwing an impedimenta jinx Harry's way.

Harry blocked the spell and kept on running. As yet another jinx flew over his shoulder, missing him by inches, he reached the gates and blasted them open.

Then he jumped to the side to make way for Ron and Hermione. He heard two pops and knew his friends were safely away. As the aurors came through the gates, Harry thought of the Shack and apparated.

There was darkness, and a dizzying spinning. Then Harry landed heavily on the side of the sofa, then he rolled over and onto the floor with a resounding thud. Ron and Hermione were in likewise conditions, dazed and disoriented. They, like him were breathing hard.

They lay there for a few minutes, panting. When Harry finally had some of his breath back he gasped, "Is everyone alright?"

Hermione nodded and Ron replied quietly. Harry stayed where he was a few minutes more, then got up and sank onto the couch. No one said anything for quite sometime. The silence was only broken when Hermione asked, "When do we start?"

Harry thought a moment, they needed rest, but it was probably best that they traveled by night.

"We'll get a few hours of sleep and start at midnight."

"I don't think we should," said Hermione hesitantly.

Harry and Ron looked at her.

"I thought you wanted to get this over with as soon as possible." Ron said incredulously.

"I do!" Hermione said, "But we can't do it tonight, the aurors will be scouring the countryside and all of London doubly hard for signs of more Death Eaters. Considering there was another break-in at Hogwarts."

"But we aren't… we didn't—" Ron spluttered looking dumbfounded.

"Of course not, but they don't know that it was us. They'll think it was more Death Eaters trying to kill off students."

Ron looked around at Harry who sighed and said, "Hermione's right. We'll have to stick round a few days and keep a low profile."

The others didn't argue, they went upstairs to bed, not looking forward to the frustrating days of waiting that lay ahead.

Harry stayed up a little longer, thinking; then he too made his way up the stairs.

The next few days were spent dueling and preparing for the journey ahead; though not much got done because all three of them were agitated and eager to get on with it. The dueling was not as intense as it could be; their minds were distracted and kept wandering to the quest.

Finally, a few days later, they were ready. Harry didn't want to leave in the daylight, still wary of the aurors. So they waited till midnight.

Midnight came and Harry packed his trunk with things they would only need for the journey. Ron and Hermione did the same, and at exactly twelve thirty, they set off. They were going to fly again, but first they were going to apparate to London. Then they would take to the air and travel north.

They appeared in the small square at Grimmauld Place. It was the only part of London that they knew of that wouldn't have too many wizards or muggles. All the same, since the Orders headquarters was close at hand, they hastily took to the sky and soared away.

Harry looked down on the ground and watched as Grimmauld Place grew smaller and smaller. The place reminded him painfully of the events that had taken place at the conclusion of his fifth year at Hogwarts.

Even though Harry now owned number 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius' old house, he didn't want anything to do with it.

He tried to drive the memory from his mind; but a sadness was flooding through him. A sense of loss that he had felt for the last few years was building and building.

He was seeing Sirius fall through the veil again, an expression between fear and surprise plastered to his godfather's face. The memory faded and was replaced by the one of Dumbledore hanging in midair.

_NO, _Harry thought, trying to master himself and push the visions away. But as he tried more came: Cedric Diggory lying on the ground with those empty, lifeless eyes. Hermione on the floor of the Department of Mysteries unconscious. Luna flying through the air in the Department of Mysteries and Ginny being hit in the face by a stunning spell. Ron on the floor of the enormous chess board as motionless as could be. Ginny, lying at the feet of the statue of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets. Neville writhing on the floor as he was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange who was using the Cruciatus Curse on him.

Then the more recent memories came:

Bill lying in the Hospital Wing, covered with the new, bloody scars Greyback had given him. Dumbledore sprawled on the ground beneath the North Tower with his half-moon spectacles askew on his crooked nose.

_No, No! _Harry thought. This time he was able to fight down the memories. He was breathing heavily, but still flying behind Hermione and Ron.

Harry tightened his grip on his broom handle, he couldn't stand to see the same things happen again. Not to his friends, or to anyone.

Slowly his breathing returned to normal. He felt drained, and miserable. Why did the memories have to come now? Why did they have to come at all, why didn't they just leave him alone? He didn't want to be haunted by them any longer.

"Harry?" asked Hermione's voice uncertainly. He looked up and saw her looking over her shoulder at him, a curious look in her eyes.

"Why don't you come up here between Ron and me and tell us? Something is obviously wrong."

Harry resisted the urge to tell them. But Hermione encouraged him further. No, he didn't want to depress the other two, but then again, it was times like these he needed them most.

So he gave in and complied flying in between them he told them about his memories. He had hardly finished when he heard Hermione sniffle and look away, tears in her eyes.

"It's okay Hermione," Ron said gently, he too was showing signs of emotion; his voice was strangely choked as he tried to comfort her.

Harry was furious with himself. He knew he shouldn't have said anything, now Hermione was upset.

As if reading his thoughts Hermione turned to Harry and with a great effort said, "It's alright. You should tell us these things so we can share them, not keep them bottled up inside."

Harry looked at her, feeling his heavy burden slide off his shoulders. She was right, they needed each other in these times of darkness, there was no point in keeping anything form each other.

They did not pursue the topic more; they just flew on in silence.

Later that night, a storm blew in. It came suddenly and the three friends had no warning. The wind grew fierce and it tossed them and their brooms around in the sky. Harry could only just keep sight of the others. They were all fighting the storm, trying to get back to the ground. Then he lost sight of them. As the wind swirled him in another direction for what must have been the dozenth time he ran into something… no someone!

As he spun off, Harry recognized that someone, but it was not Ron or Hermione. A mane of red hair flew in his face as his gasped… he had run into none other than Ginny Weasley.

She too was fighting the storm with all her might, trying desperately to keep on course towards the ground.

"Ginny!" Harry exclaimed.

She looked around at the sound of his voice; locating the source of the voice calling her name.

She positively beamed when she saw him and grabbed his broom handle to keep them from being separated by a strong gust of wind. He in turn grabbed her broom and they held on together. Once they were secure, Ginny looked up at Harry and gave him a look that said, _I'll tell you later. _

"Harry!"

Harry's head whipped around as he looked over his shoulder, trying to pick out where the voice had come from… no, not just one voice but two!

Harry's mouth dropped open. There, to his utter astonishment, was his second surprise of the night. Flying in the midst of the storm behind him, were Neville and Luna.

They seemed to have seen what he had done with Ginny and had followed his example. Neville held tight to Luna's broom while she gripped his with her right hand.

They drew level with him, their smiles making their faces glow joyously. Then a particularly rough wind current swept beneath them and their expressions turned to those of concentration as they battled against the current of air.

Harry heard a strangled yell to his right. He whisked his head around so fast he cricked his neck. He saw Ron hanging on to his broom with one hand, reaching down to Hermione below him. She seemed frightened out of her mind and was struggling to stay on her broom.

Ron tried frantically to get closer to her to help but the wind pushed him away. He was thrown even farther away from her.  
Then, a jagged air current struck Hermione's broom, making it jolt uncontrollably. She slid off the end of her broom screaming. In the air she made grabbing motions at her broom but couldn't grasp it; she plummeted towards the ground.

At the same time Harry and Ginny screamed "NOOO!" while Neville, Luna, and Ron yelled "HERMIONE!" in unison.

Ron dove into the steepest dive Harry had ever seen and sped after Hermione, pursued closely by Harry and Ginny.

As Harry dove he was knocked off course by a burst of wind, he was thrown into Ginny and as one they were hurled backwards. They soon regained control over their brooms but they had lost precious time. Again they dived, this time more desperately.

Ron was still diving; he had not been thrown off in the least by the wind stream that had gotten Ginny and Harry. He didn't notice anything in his surroundings; he was focused only on Hermione, who was still screaming. She was a yard from him, he reached out to grab her… one foot… inches from her hand… he grabbed her wrist and held on with everything he had. He wouldn't let her go…

Hermione threw up her free hand and clutched at him madly, looking fearfully at the ground.

Ron saw two streaks pass him and saw Ginny and Harry pull out of a steep dive. They circled beneath him and Hermione incase Ron were to lose his grip. They couldn't get too close to Ron for fear of the wind driving them into him. Ron was determined not to let go, he navigated his broomstick downwards and got to the ground as fast and as smoothly as he could.

When they had landed they were all trembling and had faces that resembled a ghosts'. As soon as she reached the ground, Hermione collapsed; sobbing.

Harry felt faint, he sank to the ground, gasping. They all took in deep, shaky breaths. Neville and Luna landed next to Harry, holding Hermione's broomstick both looked white and scared.

After what seemed like an hour, Ron pulled himself together and demanded of Ginny, "What are you doing here?"

It was then that Harry took in his surroundings. They were in a place where boulders and trees rose all around them. The patch of earth where they were congregated seemed to be the only open space for half a mile. At second glance he noticed that they were on some kind of hill above a small village. Below them were dozens of small, twinkling lights.

Then he focused his attention on Ginny.

_She must know about the horcruxes_ He thought. He had to say something. And before she could answer Ron he said,

"You shouldn't be here."

Ginny looked at him reproachfully and said, "You sound like mum."

"Well you shouldn't."

"Ron and Hermione are here!"

"That's different—" But before he could finish she cut him off.

"You didn't ask them to leave," said Ginny glaring at him and pointing at Ron and Hermione.

"Well actually—" Ron began, but Harry gave him a dark look and he shut up.

"But they're still here!" Ginny said, knowing what Ron had meant to say and using it to argue her point further, "Even though you asked them they will still stay. I'm no different!"

"But—" Harry started heatedly.

"Just because I haven't been on most of your adventures doesn't mean I don't belong at your side!" Ginny said defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest; determined that he see her side of it.

"She's got a point you know," Luna pointed out dreamily.

"We feel the same way!" Neville added.

Harry looked at them, from one to the other. From Ginny who still had her arms crossed to Neville who was looking at him pleadingly to Luna was usually staring into space but was now looking intently at him. There was no point in trying to argue with them, their minds were set and they wouldn't budge. He wasn't going to be able to persuade them otherwise, just like the night of the Department of Mysteries.

Harry looked at them all one last time and then relented. He sighed and said, "Fine. But you'll have to promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Ginny asked, wanting to know the terms before she agreed to anything.

Harry grinned, "That you tell me how you found out about the horcruxes."

Neville's eyes widened and Luna looked pleasantly surprised. Ginny on the other hand didn't show any emotion. She just nodded and started pacing. Ginny didn't start right away; she was busy looking around and thinking about how to reply. After a minute she sat down next to Harry, took a deep breath and launched into her story.

She explained how she had Hermione's notes that she had written and left behind in Ron's room at the Burrow. She had been in contact with Neville and Luna the whole summer and had told them everything, from the suspicious behavior of Ron, Hermione, and Harry, to the mysterious note she had found.

No one interrupted her as she described everything further.

"Then, when we got to Hogwarts, we went to the library to find out what horcruxes are."

"And like us, you didn't find anything right?" Harry asked grinning at her.

Ginny smiled back.

"Correct." Then she continued, "We were walking past the staff room one day say… about a week ago, on our way to the Great Hall for lunch when we heard raised voices coming from the Staff Room. The door was opened a crack, and I heard Professor Slughorn say something about _horcruxes. _

Naturally we wanted to hear this conversation, as it would probably give us the information we needed. I performed a mediocre disillusion spell (not bad but not real good) on all of us and we entered through the door. McGonagall was arguing with Professor Slughorn. She said, 'What makes you think that?'"

"Then Slughorn told her how you had been asking about horcruxes. She gasped and asked how you would find out about such a thing. Professor Sprout was in the room and asked what horcruxes were. McGonagall told her they were parts of someone's soul embedded in an object.

"Professor Sprout gasped and asked 'Why would Potter want to know about them?'

And Professor Slughorn told them something about Dumbledore…

Ginny's voice caught in her throat. She cleared it and went on:

"Told her something about Dumbledore and a memory of some sort. He said that you were both in on it and he didn't know much more about it. She questioned him further and he told her how he had given you two a fake memory to go on. When she demanded that he give her the real memory, he balked and said he couldn't. Then she said she needed it to find out what you were up to. He said he didn't remember the true memory.

"We put two and two together, from what your note said it seemed as if Voldemort was the one who had the horcruxes."

"So then of course we wanted to find out more about Voldemort's horcruxes. Then I remembered that… that on that night… when you left with Dumbledore," here she looked at Harry and then continued, "You were gone somewhere. I suspected that you two had gone after a horcrux."

"Then I also remembered Fred and George were acting funny every time you guys' disappearance came up. We thought they knew. So the next day I told McGonagall I wanted to go home to be with my family. Considering the circumstances, (having a brother missing and all), she let me go. I figured out what Fred and George knew because of something they let slip. Then I hurried back to Hogwarts and informed Neville and Luna.

"We decided to find out more about Voldemort. We looked him up in the library, you should have seen the mess we made of the papers, (Hermione gave an "oh!" and Ginny looked at her curiously and then went on with her tale) we found out where his orphanage was and decided that you guys might be headed there. We found the orphanage on the map and decided we could apparate to London and use brooms from there. We wanted to skip school at Hogwarts and help you guys because this quest here is more important than school. So we planned our 'escape'."

"Then someone broke into Hogwarts."

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at each other but didn't say anything. They would tell the other three their story in time, but not right now.

"Whoever it was got away, injuring a few of the aurors, not badly though. Curious," she looked at the three of them, "I heard that the person, or rather _persons_ hadn't use unforgivable spells." She stared intently at Harry, "It was you guys wasn't it?"

Harry smiled grimly at her and nodded slightly. Then said, "We'll tell you about that in a little bit, get on with your story."

Ginny looked like she was about to argue but then stopped. She considered a moment and the resumed her account.

"Well, we waited a few days for things to quiet down and then left. And now, here we are."

She ended her story and looked at the trio expectantly. It was Harry's turn to tell their tale.

He explained in great detail about quest so far, starting with the events of last year. Then he told them about what had happened after they had left the Burrow.

He had a very good audience; they all gasped at the right parts and looked terrified at the thought of the Wragerwolves.

The only interruption was when he got to the Shrieking Shack part. ("Oooh," Ginny had said, "The Shrieking Shack of course!") Then he finished with the break in at Hogwarts and that night's events.

They sat in silence for a while, letting all the information sink in.

"Wow," Neville said, "This is pretty incredible."

"Yes," Hermione said, her brow crinkled in thought. Then she said conversationally to Ginny, "So that's why all the names were out of alphabetical order when I saw them. You guys must have been in a real hurry."

Ginny blushed and said, "We didn't want anyone to know what we were up to."

Then she turned to Harry, searching him. He looked away feeling guilty already.

"You're hiding something Harry." She said simply, still giving him the searching look.

Harry knew she was right; he had done it on purpose. He didn't want to tell them about the prophecy. But Ginny saw his hesitation and pounced, "What is it?" she asked sharply, "I know you left something out. Now tell us, we hid nothing from you."

Harry thought for a while on how to reply. Picking his words carefully, he told them about the prophecy.

By the end of it he was looking at the ground, repeating the story miserably. He looked up and watched Neville's reaction.

Neville was staring at the ground, his round face furrowed in sadness and disbelief.

"So…" he said, meeting Harry's eyes, "That could have been me?"

"Yes." Harry said, "But Voldemort didn't pick you; he might have, but he didn't. Because I was a half-blood like him."

Neville looked even more sorrowful, "You're in a worse position than me. How could you live, knowing why your parents were killed so brutally?"

Harry shook his head, "I think you've got the worse end of the deal when it comes to parents. At least I never knew mine and don't have to suffer the pain of not having them here. It hurts yes, but not as much as it would if I had known them better."

Neville looked thoughtful in a sad way. Then he smiled, "Well, were in the same boat. We both think the other's predicament is worse. Maybe it's better that way."

Harry nodded his agreement. Before they could discuss the subject further however, they were interrupted by the sound of wings. He looked up and saw an owl flying with a newspaper in its beak.

He looked at his watch, it must be nearly morning. He deduced that there must be a wizard in the village below; it looked like the owl was flying in that direction.

The owl seemed to know they were magical, because it changed direction and flew towards them. It also seemed to think that it was supposed to deliver its burden to them because it dropped the paper in the middle of the clearing and flew off. Strange, it hadn't waited for payment.

They all stared at it, wondering what news from the world it held. Hermione got up to retrieve it. She picked it up then faltered.

"Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I just feel guilty reading someone else's paper."

Ron laughed, shaking his head at Hermione, "You are so virtuous Hermione. It's not our fault the owl gave the paper to us. We might need it more than the person it was going to come to think of it."

Hermione frowned, "Everyone deserves to know what's going on, not just us." But she seemed to think the need for information too great and without further ado, she unfurled the paper.

"Anybody we—?" Ron was about to say his usual question when he was interrupted by Hermione's gasp. Her eyes filled with tears as she read the headline and the first few lines of the article. Before she finished reading she sank to her knees and let the paper slip through her slackened grip. Staring into space, then she started sobbing uncontrollably.

Ron was bewildered at her reaction and picked up the paper to investigate. He only had to read the headline before he threw the paper away in disgust; tears of fury leaking from his eyes. Then he collapsed on the ground next to Hermione and hugged her, stroking her hair and wearing a disbelieving, blank look on his face.

Harry felt dread as he looked at the paper, what could induce his friends' show of emotion like this? He wondered.

Slowly he bent down and revealed the page to the others, who were ready to read the report over his shoulder.

A horrible sight met his eyes, there, emblazoned in big letters was the title:

**ATTACK UPON THE MINISTRY**

**AUROR OFFICE ASSAULTED **

It has been revealed that an attack has been made upon the ministry of magic. Speculations as to what they were after are still hazy, but it is suspected that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named intends to do away with one of his biggest barriers: the aurors.

A group of followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named known as the Death Eaters broke into the ministry late Friday the night of August the 30th. Evidence shows that he centered his attack around the auror headquarters, slaughtering whomever he found there...

Harry didn't need to read anymore, he knew who they were. The ones who had died. Their pictures were blinking up at him from the front page.

Dawlish, Kingsley, Tonks and Lupin were all dead.

Harry felt again, a sense of loss. Kingsley… Tonks… Lupin… three members of the Order… _three _had died.

Kingsley, whom Harry hadn't known very well but had still liked, was dead. Tonks… clumsy, likeable Tonks wasn't there anymore either. And Lupin… the last of his dad's loyal friends… the last faithful Marauder was gone… gone forever.

Harry felt a surge of rage run through his body. He crumpled the paper, threw it to the ground and kicked a boulder with all his might in uncontrollable anger. Then his grief overwhelmed him and he leaned his back against the sole tree in the little clearing. He slid down it and landed with a soft _thud _on the ground. Harry put his head in his hands, trying to block out all the memories of Kingsley, Tonks and Lupin. It was painful enough to have them dead, but to be remembering them at this moment was too much.

He looked up and stared around at the others. Hermione was crying harder than ever on Ron's shoulder. Ron still had the same, empty expression on his face, patting Hermione's back. Neville was staring at the paper on the ground, the lines in his face etched with grief. Luna was beside him, looking lost. Ginny's face was contorted in fury mingled with grief. She was leaning her forehead against a boulder, weeping silently.

Harry got up and went to her. Then he took her in his arms and rocked her. She put her arms around his waist and sank her face into his chest, sobbing louder.

Luna was sitting on a boulder now, looking into space, tears rolling down her cheeks. Neville was at her shoulder trying to comfort her. But you can hardly comfort someone when you yourself feel the same pain.

They stayed in their positions a long time; no one knew how long, they didn't even care how long they had stayed. They were just lost in the mazes of their own minds.

It grew cold, and they all huddled together for warmth, miserable beyond recognition. No one had the heart to read more details about the happening. And so time went by, and they all fell into a deep, troubled sleep.

-:-

**A/N: **sob Okay. I hated doing that! But I REALLY needed something that would push the group on to an even greater level. Killing seemed to be a good place to start…evil me. Despite that horrible little piece done by me, what did you all think about me having them all teamed up once again? Please R&R! –E.S.E.


	10. Chapter 10: Time's Journey

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**Disclaimer: The epic adventure this tale is based on is written by J.K. Rowling. I am not her, but enjoy this chapter anyway!**

A/N: **I'd like to thank a few of my friends. To my first ever readers: my friends whose names I will not reveal. You know who you are! They were the first ones to read my fic and urged me to put it on-line. I wouldn't have written more than a few chapters if it hadn't been for them. Pals, thanks a bunch! I'd also like to thank my reviewers. Can't live without ya! Thanks guys! I owe you one. **

**-EveningSongEnchantment **

**For Shnitz (aka-Shnitzenhimer)**

**The previous situation may be terminated, but we can always begin again. Thanks for _your_ support and many wonderful conversations with me. Your help has been invaluable! Thanks for being an excellent Beta. This one's for you. Oh. And remember, save the birds! punches the air, misses the bird, plane AND superman! ;)**

**Chapter 10: Time's Journey Begins **

The six of them slept past noon. No one but a few flitting birds discovered them.

When Neville woke up, he was startled to find himself in the open air sleeping next to five other people. He looked around and remembered last night's events.

He sighed and hugged his knees. So many people had died in the past few years. He (use this name in next sentence) hadn't known them very well or at all, but he felt bad for them all the same.

Neville looked around their patch of earth morosely. The news about the prophecy had brought his emotions up a notch. Then the information the paper had brought had given them all a jarring push in that depressing direction.

Neville looked at the others and remembered the D.A. and what their goals had been. Well, they had reached those goals; they could all fight Death Eaters now anyway. But Neville felt that there was a new goal now: to end all this suffering and pain. To bring the world back to happier days, and the only way to do that was to destroy the horcruxes.

The others were waking up now; Luna was looking around her in that dreamy way of hers. Ginny was scowling at the ground, she still hadn't rid herself of the emotions of last night, and Ron and Hermione rose in low spirits. Harry… Harry was staring at the ground, fists clenched.

No one felt like making much of an effort for breakfast, so they just took out some snacks from their trunks and munched on them.

But Harry didn't get up. He was thinking about Voldemort and his horcruxes. He was trying to concentrate on anything but the pain that he had experienced last night.

"Harry?"

Harry looked up to see Ginny's face inches from his, tears shining in her beautiful, bright brown eyes.

"You should eat something," she said, handing him an apple. He took it gratefully and bit into it.

Ginny sat down beside him, looking at the ground and chewing her pear dolefully. They all sat in silence, not speaking about anything but looking at the paper which still lay crumpled in the middle of the clearing.

Ginny threw the remains of her pear away and stalked over to the paper, snatching it up from the ground.

"They'll pay for this," she said through gritted teeth, glaring at the foremost page, "They'll pay for what they've done…for all that they've done."

She clutched the newspaper with shaking hands, and looked around at the others. New determination filled them all as they looked at the scrap of news she held in her hands. They _had _to destroy the horcruxes, and Voldemort with them; they just _had_ to.

Hermione got up and read aloud more details from the paper for all to hear.

It seemed that the aurors had been working late when Lupin arrived. The werewolf was on some mysterious business, wanting to talk to Tonks. Then the Death Eaters had come, soundless and deadly.

It seemed that they had all fought bravely, but had been gravely out numbered, dieing before help could arrive. The paper said they had brought down eight Death Eaters with them and had severely injured four more, bringing them to justice.

When Hermione had given the details, they all felt the same rage pouring through them, filling up their every thought and feeling. It rushed through their blood like cold fire and filled them with a sense of utmost determination.

Then Ginny sat up suddenly, staring at the paper.

"August thirtieth… that was…" she looked at the Harry, "That was the night you all left..."

Realization hit them all hard in the face. Harry fleetingly remembered Mrs. Weasley telling them to stay.

"_Urgent message… Attack on the Ministry…"_

"_Can't we-?" _

"_NO! Stay here and wait for us to return! We'll be back as soon as we can." _

That's what had happened that night. That's what the Ministry attack had been all about. The aurors office had been assaulted while the three of them had made their 'escape'.

Ron turned on Ginny. "Why didn't you tell us this before?" he demanded, outraged.

"I didn't know!" Ginny cried in her defense, "Mum came home and the raid was completely wiped from her mind when she found out that you lot had disappeared!"

Ginny had forgotten to tell them about Mrs. Weasley's reaction to their leaving. So she told, in enormous detail, what had happened upon the Order's return.

Harry felt guiltier and guiltier with every sentence. He hadn't meant to cause so much turmoil… but then again, it had been necessary.

After Ginny had recounted August 30th's events, no one spoke. Neville and Luna stared at the sky and Ron, Harry, and Hermione gazed at the ground. All three of them felt guilty about putting Mrs. Weasley through so much.

Harry heard a noise to his left. He looked up to see Ginny scuffing the ground with her sneaker, looking guilty.

"You didn't do anything!" Harry said surprised.

Ginny grinned half-heartedly. "Oh yes I did. I left Hogwarts; Mum will have a letter by now telling her that I've gone missing."

Neville looked up at this, eyes wide. He had not thought about this angle. His Gran would have gotten a letter too, as will have Luna's dad.

How horrible they all must have felt, to find that their children or grandchildren had disappeared during the night.

Now everyone was feeling at fault. Ginny imagined how Mrs. Weasley would react. Now all her children had either left home or gone missing.

Ginny bit her lip. Her mother would probably die of misery. And how would Mr. Lovegood respond to having his only daughter disappear? Or Mrs. Longbottom? She had already lost her son and his wife in a sense, and now she would think she'd lost Neville too.

Ginny saw that Neville must have come to the same conclusion. He was looking sick with himself for causing his family more pain.

Luna however seemed un-phased. Confused, Ginny opened her mouth to ask why. Before she could get a word out thought, Luna noticed and talked first.

"He'll know I'm still alive," Luna said vaguely.

"And how will he know that?" Ginny asked.

Luna shrugged and said, "He'll just know. All families have some kind of connection that tells them these things."

Ginny doubted this; if her mother had the connection then she wouldn't have been worried sick when Harry and the others had left. But she didn't say anything because Luna believed a lot of weird things and didn't like her beliefs being challenged.

"We'd better get going." Harry said still looking at the ground. He went over to his trunk, took out his Firebolt and then started strapping his trunk to it. The others did the same, but Hermione hung back.

She walked over to the paper and picked it up. Then she tucked it into her pocket gingerly.

Ron had been watching her and asked, "What are you keeping it for? Throw it away; the memory of the thing is bad enough."

Hermione glared at Ron, more tears in her eyes. "I'm keeping it for sentimental reasons; I also didn't get to read what wasn't on the front page."

"So?"

"So, there might be more useful information inside, we shouldn't pass that up just because of what's on the front page." And with that she turned on her heel and started loading her trunk.

Ron stared at her a moment, and then resumed his own packing. It took about five minutes to get all of them set, and then they were off again; this time six of them were flying together.

They traveled in pairs so it would be easier to keep track of everybody. Harry and Ginny were in front, Ron and Hermione were together in the middle, and Neville and Luna were flying next to each other, bringing up the rear.

There were a few attempts at conversation, but they were half-hearted and didn't last long. It was starting to get monotonous, flying over landscapes, dodging behind clouds. Finally, when evening was starting to set in, they reached their destination. Harry signaled the rest to start their descent and they followed his directions.

They landed in a battered, deserted neighborhood. All the widows of the buildings were boarded up and the road was reduced to bricks here and there. Signs depicting their stores' goods were swinging and creaking in the silence. Doors lay on the floor or on broken hinges. Dunesburrow seemed to be uninhabited.

They walked down the street nervously, wands out.

"Er—" Harry said, "Hermione are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, "This place is like a ghost town. Not the kind of place you'd expect an orphanage to be in."

Neville and Ron murmured that they were of the same mind. Luna was looking around, curious.

Even Hermione looked unsure, but then she quickly got her confidence back.

"Well," she said self-assuredly, "I didn't expect it to be a pretty place, since there's supposed to be a horcrux around here. And judging by the state of things," she gestured to a nearby building, "We seem to be in the right place for a horcrux."

There was a creak from the building directly behind them. They all whirled around to an empty doorway. Cautiously, Harry edged towards the door, wand aloft and ready to strike.

He peered around the doorpost, but saw no one in the room. He looked up a flight of stairs and saw no one.

He came out and shook his head at the others, muttering something about the wind playing tricks. They all sighed with relief.

They continued on, wondering down the avenues looking for Burlington Street. It was one of the last streets they came to. It was, if possible, more desolate than the other lanes. They looked for number forty-two but it wasn't there.

Frowning, Harry sat on a bench. Hermione looked puzzled and stared at where number forty-two should be.

Harry knew that there was a charm on the building similar to the one on number 12 Grimmauld Place; they had come to their first obstacle.

He explained his suspicions to the others and it didn't bring happy looks to their faces.

The others thought in silence, Ron and Luna went over to sit by a pair of broken gates that used to lead to what seemed to be a courtyard.

"Harry," said Hermione standing up abruptly, "I've just had an idea. Can you remember the inside of the orphanage? You are the only one of us to see the memory in Dumbledore's pensieve so you're the only one who can do it."

"Do what?" Harry asked, trying to understand what she was telling him to do.

"Okay, imagine a room, any room that you can remember. If I'm right something should happen."

Harry frowned and tried to picture the room in which the past Dumbledore had spoken to young Tom Riddle.

As he pictured the image, a square building surrounded by high railings appeared out of thin air, squeezing into the space between number forty-one and forty-three.

Neville, who had been leaning on a deck banister, jumped back in surprise and tripped over the bench Harry was sitting on. Luna had a similar reaction; she had been standing with her back to the house when it had appeared and had spun around so quickly she lost her balance. She stared up at the orphanage with a satisfied look of her face. Ron was staring at the building open-mouthed while Ginny blinked at it from behind the bench where she was standing. Hermione's expression was that of 'I-knew-it!' Harry just stared at Voldemort's old orphanage in dull surprise.

Hermione smiled and approached the door. She stopped with her hand on the handle, brow furrowed. She turned to the others and asked, "What's the plan?"

"We find the horcrux and destroy it," Ron said looking at the door apprehensively.

Hermione frowned at him and said, "And what about the other—er—complications?"

It was Harry's turn to answer. "We deal with them together," he said.

Hermione nodded and took out her wand, as did everyone else. Slowly she turned the handle, wand at the ready.

They opened the door to find an empty entryway with broken black and white tiles and a flight of stairs leading to the bedrooms. Hallways stared through doors here and there leading to other parts of the house. It seemed shabbier than when Harry had seen it in the pensieve. Harry looked upwards but didn't see anything but an enormous roof.

"We should split up," Ginny said, looking around the entryway and its adjoining halls, "This place is too big for us to all go as one group."

"Uh uh," Harry said shaking his head, "We need to stick together." If something happened to them Harry would never forgive himself.

Ginny looked him in the eye and said, "Harry, you can't always be there for all of us. We can fend for ourselves now, don't worry." She looked up at the ceiling and suddenly smiled.

"And besides," she added, still grinning. She turned to Harry, "I don't think Voldemort counted on having _six _people dealing with his horcruxes at the same time, do you?"

With that said and done she began putting them into groups. They ended up with their flying partners; Ron and Hermione, Luna and Neville, and Harry and Ginny. These pairs seemed to work best together.

"Right," Harry said, taking control of the operation, though still reluctant to split up, "Luna and Neville, you check out these lobbies down here," he indicated to the passageways on their right, "Ron and Hermione, over there," Harry pointed to their left, "Ginny and I'll take the upstairs rooms."

"And if anyone finds the horcrux…?" Hermione asked.

Harry frowned. What if they did find the horcrux? They would have to risk the other dangers of the house to tell the other groups.

"I've got it," Ginny said, "It seems as though we can all see the entranceway from most of the rooms. Send green sparks into the entry if you've found the horcrux and red sparks if you're in big trouble."

The others nodded.

They followed Harry's orders and spread out; Neville and Luna taking the right, Ron and Hermione on the left-hand side, and Harry and Ginny started up the stairs to the second floor.

The boards of the stairs creaked ominously as they climbed them upwards. Both were alert and ready to strike at any sign of movement.

Harry suddenly became aware of something in his pocket. He looked down to find his invisibility cloak there.

_How did that get there? _He asked himself, coming to a halt. Then he remembered. He had put it in his pocket when they had left.

Ginny stopped too and stared at the invisibility cloak, eyebrows raised.

"You've had it all this time?" she asked accusingly.

"I suppose I have," Harry said, "But I only just realized it was there."

He hitched the cloak more securely in his pocket and found that it contained something else.

He dug into his pocket and drew out an old, ragged piece of parchment. It was the Marauder's Map.

Harry stared at it. When had he put it there?

"I don't remember taking this," he said to Ginny confusedly.

He shrugged and replaced the items in his pocket. Then he turned to Ginny and grinned.

"Do you have anything in your pockets?" he asked her jokingly.

"Why yes," Ginny said, "As a matter of fact I do."

She fished around in the back pocket of her jeans and brought out a bag of the twins' Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes merchandise. It was Harry's turn to raise his eyebrows.

Ginny laughed at him and said, "They're yours. I found them in your trunk earlier when I was getting you that apple."

She handed the bag to him. As she did something fell out, a dungbomb fell out of the bag before either of them could catch it. It toppled down the stairs and landed two steps below them, but it didn't activate.

"I'll get it," Harry said, pointing his wand at the dungbomb.

"No, I will, it's my fault." Ginny said and gave incantation for a summoning charm.

But Harry had already said the spell in his head. Their charms hit the bomb at the same time and it rocketed in their direction. They both ducked to avoid being hit in the face. The dungbomb whizzed over their heads and hit a wall at the top of the stairs and bounced off it. It hit two other walls in quick succession and came to rest on the floor at the top of the stairs.

_BOOM!_

Harry and Ginny grabbed at the banisters as a quaking explosion shook the second floor. Ginny almost fell over her banister but Harry seized her around the waist just in time.

The step they were standing on groaned, then cracked and started to cave-in. Both of them quickly jumped and landed on the step above them. Then the whole staircase started falling apart.

"GO!" Harry shouted, as his the boards at his feet splintered and split. Harry lunged for the top of the stairs, Ginny scrambling as best she could behind them.

They got to the last stair when they were finally overtaken by the destruction. Harry felt his feet leave the ground. He was falling, falling to the floor about sixteen feet below them. Ginny screamed and reached for the landing at the top of the stairs. Harry did the same and felt his fingers come in contact with the floorboards of the second floor. He gripped them with all his might, willing himself not to let go.

They hung there, sixteen feet above the ground, clinging to the planks on the floor above them. Ginny set her face and not looking down, began to heave herself upwards. Harry took a deep breath to calm his nerves and tried to find a foot-hold. Kicking didn't do any good, finding no support from anything below him he strained his arms as he tried to get onto the landing above.

He got his head above the boards but his arms gave way and he plunged downward. He was still dangling from the flooring and his arms felt like they had been wrenched out of their sockets. The force with which he had fallen caused him to swing perilously on the edge of the landing. Something hit his right arm and it let go of the landing. He yelled as he was forced to hang one-handed.

"Harry!" Ginny cried, trying to help him. She reached out her left hand, but this motion caused her to sway worse than Harry. She hastily grabbed the edge again.

Harry was hanging by his fingertips now, desperate; he flung his right arm out as far as he could reach and clutched the rim of the flooring. But he was back to square one again.

Beside him, Ginny was making more progress. Red faced and sweaty she was able to lift herself slightly above the rim and caught a hold of some kind of furniture by the stairs with her right hand. Taking a leap of faith, she let go of the floor with her left hand and swung it around to grasp the furniture, falling slightly as she did so.

Harry looked around for something he could hold onto, but there was nothing on his side of the floor. He heard a scraping sound and whisked his head around to look at Ginny.

The furniture, in this case a table with long dead greenery, was scooting slowly towards them because of Ginny's weight.

Ginny was looking at it fearfully and then looked around for something else to hold onto.

"No, no, no," she was muttering to herself, frantically looking for something else to take a hold of.

The table slid a few more inches, the pot in which the greenery sat fell to the floor and crashed, shattering. The table was at the edge now; Ginny was desperate to find something to hang on to.

Harry was trying to help her, trying to push her into a more secure position, but all he did was worsen the situation. As Ginny swung to the right, the table lurched and the leg she was holding on to came over the edge.

Ginny let out an earsplitting scream, looking fearfully at the ground far below.

Harry let go of the border of the second floor with his right hand and held it out to Ginny.

"Take it!" He shouted to her.

She shook her head. "No! I'll bring you down with me, you can't hold that much weight with on hand."

"Quit being so noble and take my hand!" Harry said, stretching his arm farther so he could almost grip her wrist.

"You're always being noble!" she argued hotly. The table gave another frightening lurch and Ginny made up her mind. She twisted around and grabbed Harry's outstretched arm, as she did, the table fell off the landing completely, plummeting towards the ground.

Harry felt the full extent of Ginny's weight and could hardly hold her. She saw this and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Don't you let go!" He roared.

Ginny looked him in the face and then did something quite unexpected. Using his arm like a rope, she swung herself acrobatically towards the landing. Then, at the right moment, she let go and soared towards the edge. Her hands met with the rim of the landing and she gripped tightly.

She then proceeded to pull herself up, grunting and groaning with the effort. She got her elbows over, and then swung her leg up. After that she rolled over onto the landing and lay on her back, panting.

She looked around and noticed a crater right next to her where the dungbomb had landed.

_The floor must have been hexed, _she thought. _Voldemort knew what he was doing. _

Harry's arms were getting tired from holding on to the second floor so long. He tried again to pull himself up, but it was no use. He came back down to his original position.

"A little help here?" he called up to Ginny.

Ginny snapped out of her thoughts, Harry was still hanging over the edge! She crawled as quickly as she could to where his hands were gripping the rim. They were white with the effort of keeping himself from falling.

"Try and pull yourself up so I can grab on to something besides your hands here," Ginny instructed.

Harry did as she asked and pulled himself up. When he got high enough for her to reach his arms he could do nothing but hold his position till she had a hold on him. His abdomen was screaming for release; it had never been put through this much use before. He must have done an amount equal to thirty pull-ups today; at least… that's what it felt like.

Ginny had taken his right arm and was now seizing his left. Then she began to pull him towards her. Pulling with all her might she started to drag him over the edge and onto the floor in front of her.

Harry knew she was succeeding, but couldn't keep it up for long. He tried as best he could to help her, but he could do nothing but wait. He had his waist above the edge now; he swung his leg over the rim of floor just as Ginny's strength gave way. She fell over backwards, yanking him the rest of the way over.

They lay there, panting and gasping for breath, looking at nothing but each other. Relief was written all over their faces.

"I think…" Ginny panted and took a deep breath, "I think that was a challenge. Don't you?"

Harry nodded tiredly and said, "Thanks."

Ginny smiled grimly and said, "Thanks yourself; if you hadn't caught me…" She looked over the edge to the floor below them and shuddered, "Well, I wouldn't be here to talk about it." (its really well written, but wouldn't Ron and Hermione have come to see what was up? And Harry or Ginny probably would've used their wands. But keep it this way! Its good!)

They slowly got to their feet and surveyed their surroundings. They were standing on the perimeter of what looked like a living room. There were couches and a small television set, broken and useless. More tables with dead greenery were here and there, smashed by something unknown. A big crater where the dungbomb had landed was to their left and to their right were a number of long hallways leading to the bedrooms.

"Let's try this one," Harry said, pointing to a hallway directly in front of them. They would have to cross the living room, but that didn't matter much.

They both raised their wands and proceeded to the hallway. As he got to the middle of the room, Harry felt a slight difference in the floor; it felt like it was sloping a little. He looked down at the carpet but didn't see anything. Ginny seemed oblivious to the change, so she kept on walking.

"Ginny wai—" Harry began but before he could say anymore Ginny stepped past him and into the different leveled floor.

Her foot sank through the carpet. There was a splintering and cracking sound and the floor seemed to break. Ginny was falling, screaming again.

"ARRGGH!" she screamed as her head disappeared underneath the floor.

"GINNY!"

Harry dove for the spot he had seen her last. He landed on the edge of something, not daring to go further; he took out his wand and pointed it at the place where Ginny had disappeared.

"_Specialis Revelio!_" He cried.

The spell did its job; it revealed what was hidden in the floor. There actually wasn't any floor at all, it was big hole.

Ginny had managed to grab the rim and was dangling above something very dark. It seemed to be a downstairs room. Her face was as white as a sheet, and she was looking down into the darkness below.  
Harry reached out to help her when something from below let out a screech that chilled his blood. Something down there had either seen or smelled them.

Then the sound came again, this time from behind Harry. Harry looked over his shoulder to see a monstrous creature bearing down on him, its teeth bared.

* * *

Hermione and Ron edged along the passage they had taken. They were alert and watchful for any sign of danger.

"What do you think is in this place?" Ron asked Hermione quietly.

"I don't know something dangerous no doubt," she replied.

They reached the end of the corridor when it happened. An explosive rumbling that shook the foundations of the house erupted from somewhere behind them. Ron and Hermione were thrown off their feet, Hermione grabbed at a lamp that was hitched to the wall for support. Ron fell and hit a table with a vase that was directly behind him. The vase shattered and the rickety table collapsed under his weight. A picture that had been hanging on the wall down the passage fell of and landed with a loud clang on the floor, its glass broken.

As suddenly as it had come, the rumbling stopped. Ron and Hermione looked around cautiously, wands raised. But there was no sign of any danger.

Hermione coughed as dust swirled around the hallway.

"What was that?" Ron asked, looking back the way they had come, "Do you think the others are okay?"

Hermione looked towards the entranceway worriedly. "I don't see any red sparks, do you?"

Ron shook his head and continued to stare in the direction of the entryway.

"I'm sure they're all fine," Hermione said reassuringly, though not very confident herself.

Ron got up and dusted off his jeans.  
"Yeah," he said, trying to convince himself, "yeah, they're alright, they're fine,"

He led the way down the rest of the hallway and came to a fork, one hall led to the right, and the other wound sharply to their left.

"How big is this place?" Ron asked, leaning over to try and get a good look down the left passageway.

"Probably not that big," Hermione said, peering down the right-hand fork, "it's only an orphanage after all."

They stayed a little longer, trying to figure out which way would be best to choose.

"Look," said Hermione softly, "We'll try the left and if we don't find anything down there we'll take the right."

"And if there's another fork on the left passage?" Ron asked uncertainly.

"Then we either choose a passage or come back here and take the right. I'm sure it won't branch off again, this building shouldn't be _that _big."

Ron nodded, though far from being reassured.

They took the route to the left and walked down it. This one was darker than the last; no lamps were to be found.

"_Lumos"_ They both said, and they raised their wands high above their heads, illuminating the corridor.

It was completely demolished; pictures lay everywhere and vase fragments littered the passageway. Tables with dead plants had been knocked over by someone… or something more than likely.

Ron looked around nervously. Whatever had wrecked the corridor could still be here! Hermione saw his fear and smiled as she bent down and wiped one of the picture frames with her finger. It was covered with dust. She grinned at him and said, "Don't worry, these things have been like this a long time, judging by how thick they are with dust."

She wrinkled her nose and wiped her dusty finger on her shorts. Then, looking ahead she saw a door down the hallway that was opened a crack. Light was pouring through it.

Ron followed her gaze and saw it too. He frowned and looked at her questioningly.

"It could be a trap," Hermione said, frowning as well, "But it's the only sign of life we've seen in this dark and dank building." She raised her wand higher and tiptoed towards the door.

They had to pick their way through the debris of smashed paintings, vases and greenery, but finally reached the room.

Hermione peeked through the gap in the door and saw nothing. All was darkness because the light had gone out.

_Strange, _Hermione said, _I don't hear anything moving. What could be in there? _

She looked over at Ron and saw that he was ready for action, whimpering slightly.

_Why oh why do I get into these situations? _He asked himself, then he gulped and nodded to Hermione.

She took a deep breath and turned the doorknob slowly. The door squeaked as she pushed it open a little. They both froze, listening for any sounds from the room within. Hearing nothing, Hermione pushed the door a little further. Still nothing.

Swinging the door wide she raised her wand, prepared to strike. But nothing was in the room.

She crept further into the room, hardly daring to breathe. Something moved in the corner.

Hermione didn't know why she said it, her instinct told her to be as quiet as possible, but she did.

"Who's there?" She called out. There was more movement in the corner and then something came streaking out of it… right towards her!

Before she could even scream the creature was upon her, sucking her breath out of her and smothering her.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"How far do you think this goes?" Neville asked Luna, who was walking beside him to his left.

"It may go on forever for all I know," Luna said indifferently.

They were walking cautiously down the corridor on the right hand side of the entryway.

Neville sighed. Why did she always have to be so strange? Ah well, this was no time to think about those things right now, they had to get down to business.

Keeping their wands ready they slowly crept down the corridor, watchful for any signs of danger.

When the corridor turned sharply to the right they peered around the corner cautiously; there was nothing but darkness. Neville looked at Luna, who blinked and walked straight down the passageway.

Neville hesitated a second longer, and then followed her into the non-illuminated corridor. As he rounded the corner he walked right into an old chair. It crashed to the ground with a resounding bang.

Neville cursed his clumsiness. Why did he always have to do it at a time like this?

Luna froze, looking for any signs of life that might have heard the disturbance. But the blackness of the corridor stayed silent.

_This place seems uninhabited, _she thought.

"You okay Neville?" she asked softly. And then, "_Lumos!" _

A small light emitted from Luna's wand, lighting up the hallway. Neville lay sprawled across an old chair.

"Yeah," Neville said, equally quiet, "I didn't hurt myself, just knocked over a chair."

"Oh," said Luna distantly, the old mysterious far-off look coming back into her eyes.

Neville got up looking highly embarrassed. They stared at one another for a moment and the Neville cleared his throat.

"We should move on," he said, sidestepping the chair which could have been their downfall should something have heard it.

Luna nodded and Neville lit his wand. Together they continued their search for the horcrux, checking rooms here and there but finding them all empty. They both felt curious as to why they hadn't met any more obstacles yet. Was this all Voldemort could throw at them? An invisible house that they had found so quickly due to Hermione's brilliance and Harry's memory? Well, this wasn't so bad after all.

The passageway turned left, then right, and then took another left. They were getting farther and farther away from where they had started, the old house's floor boards creaking under their feet.

"This place is simply enormous!" Neville exclaimed, still keeping his voice low.

"Yes," Luna said, "Isn't it though?"

They went on for what seemed like hours, though it was only five minutes. And then something happened. It started far away, and then made its way towards them; an earthquake-like shaking.

The wall beside Neville cracked, and he looked up just in time. A shelf loaded with dust ornaments was about to fall on top of their heads!

He lunged at Luna who stood looking around for the disturbance.

"What the—?" was all she said before she was tackled to the ground and out of harms way.

The shelf and ornaments came crashing to the ground where they had been standing a second before.

They both coughed as a cloud of dust enveloped them. The rumbling ceased, bringing with it an unearthly silence.

"What was that?" Neville asked apprehensively, looking back in the direction they had come.

"I… I don't know," said Luna looking thoroughly shaken. She was staring at the ornaments that had nearly given her a concussion.

They both stood up and brushed off their clothes which were covered in dust. As Neville bent down to extract more dust off his socks he heard something moving in the dark corridor ahead of him. He froze, listening. Luna hadn't appeared to notice anything and was sweeping her right arm off.

Neville brought up a hand and motioned for her to be quiet. She stopped, and stared at him. Neville pointed in the direction where the sound had come from. They both stood stalk-still, listening intently.

Luna grasped her wand tightly as the sound came again, this time closer. Neville backed away one step and raised his lit wand, trying to see what it was that was coming.

Whatever it was had obviously seen the light, for sounds coming down the passage indicated that it had broken into a run.

Luna raised her wand higher, getting ready to stun it. But as the creature, for it was a creature, came into view she was too shocked to do anything.

The creature stood upright at about five feet tall, the size of both of them, if not bigger. Its two legs were bent backwards, like that of a flamingo. Its was scaly from its head to the tip of its long, spiky tail and its arms were as long as it's feet, but hung above the ground due to the creature's long back. It had sharp, lethal looking, blood-red claws on its hands and to-big feet. A long, scaly snout protruded from its small, cunning face. It had bat-like ears and slit-shaped nostrils that were currently sniffing experimentally as it looked for whatever had made the noise and the light. The creature opened its mouth to reveal a snake-like tongue and rows of long, jagged teeth.

Neville would have called it a huge dragon or a lizard if it hadn't been standing on its hind legs or had those bat-like ears.

The creature advanced on them, spreading its arms wide, blocking the passage. Only then did Neville notice that it had wings too; thick, leathery wings. They were attached to it's arms and were a deep, sickening yellow color

Neville and Luna raised their wands, and as they did the creature opened its mouth and issued an unearthly, banshee-like screech that chilled Neville to the bone. He couldn't think; it was like his brain had shut down. All was blank; he couldn't see or feel, he just felt emptiness.

Luna was having the same problem. She couldn't move, or send any messages to her limbs with her brain. She wanted desperately to raise her wand and stun the beast, but for some reason her body wasn't obeying the commands she was giving it. Neville wasn't any help. He wouldn't budge either.

* * *

Harry only got a glimpse of his attacker before he rolled out of the way. It was as tall as he was, scaly, with bat-like ears. He heard the crunching of wood as the creature took a mouthful out of the floor where he had previously lain.

Harry jumped up and pointed his wand at the monstrosity.

"_Stupefy!_" he shouted, aiming between the creature's eyes. To his surprise his stunning spell was thrown back at him as it bounced off the scaly creature's head.

Harry sidestepped to right so quickly to get out of the way that he tripped over his own feet. He landed next to another hole in the floor which collapsed upon itself as he touched the edge of it.

He crawled rapidly backwards, away from the hole. The creature was on the other side of it, watching him hungrily.

How it would love to devour him. It hadn't eaten something so big in such a long time… just mice and other unfortunate small animals that had wondered across its path.

It looked at the gaping hole in the floor, then snorted and spread its wings.

Harry backed away even farther, only to find another booby trap hole; this time he nearly fell in.

The lizard-creature leapt into the air and soared towards him, screeching triumphantly at the top of its lungs.

Harry thought as fast as he could for a spell… anything that would help him. Stunning spells didn't work but did…?

Harry rolled over and pointed his wand into the air at the beast, shouting, "_Petrificus Totalus!_"

The monster had been flying over the middle of the hole when its limbs suddenly snapped together, wings along with them. It fell through the floor without a sound.

Harry laid his head back on the floorboards, taking in deep, relieved breaths.

"_Harry_!" Ginny's voice came from the first hole, "Harry, are you there!"

Harry jumped up and cursed himself for allowing himself to relax while Ginny was still in danger.

As he rushed over to the hole Ginny screamed. Another one of the reptilian creatures had flown out of the hole; it was now impatient and wouldn't wait any longer for Ginny to fall.

Harry used the same tactics he had with the other one.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" he bellowed as the creature made to tear Ginny apart.

The spell missed the monster by inches. It turned on its enemy and gave that bizarre screech.

Harry covered his ears, blocking out the sound. He knew that it did something, something horrible and he didn't want to find out what.

Harry whipped his wand around and cried, "_Silencio!_"

The offending racket ceased immediately, the charm had worked. The creature cocked its head, jaws wide. It didn't seem to understand why it couldn't make the sound; it had no idea what had happened.

The creature shook its head and tried another approach. It charged so quickly that Harry barely had time to react. He dived to the side, but not before one of the animal's claws caught him at the last second. Pain seared through his back as Harry landed heavily on the floor boards, yelling in pain.

It stung badly, but Harry didn't have time to think about it. He spun around and tried again.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" he roared. This time the spell hit its mark and the dragon-ish animal keeled over and fell to the floor with a thud.

Harry put his wand in his pocket and ran to where Ginny was still hanging on the edge. The creature seemed to have gotten her too; her left calf was bleeding.

When Harry had heaved Ginny up she collapsed in his arms, breathing heavily. Harry pushed her away gently; this was no time for anything like that. They had to get moving.

"Let's go," he said.

"What about those?" Ginny asked, pointing towards the nearest hole.

Harry frowned and then spotted a metal rod lying on the floor nearby. Testing the floor with his foot, he made his way over to the rod. It was safe ground all the way over. He picked up the rod and tapped it, grinning at Ginny.

She understood and smiled. Together they made it across the room, testing the floor with the rod before they stepped.

None of the rooms yielded much, just beds, wardrobes, and the occasional beside table. They came out of the last room empty handed and disgruntled. A new problem arose as they thought about meeting the others. How were they going to get back downstairs?

They searched all the rooms again, this time looking for something that might be able to help them accomplish this task.

It was only when Ginny mentioned something about "wish we could summon another staircase" that Harry thought of it. Almost every muggle house had ladders, why didn't they summon a ladder? But would this place have a ladder tall enough? Only one way to find out. "_Accio ladder!" _he said, pointing his wand in no particular direction.

There was a clanging sound and the creak of an opening door. Harry turned around to where the stairs had been and saw a heavy, steel ladder coming their way. It stopped in front of Harry, waiting for him to put it to use.

Harry scrutinized the object, looking for anything that would make it extend. He found it, a little lever on the side of the ladder. He cranked it one way and the ladder became smaller. No, that was the opposite of what he needed. He cranked it the other way and the ladder lengthened.  
Harry lengthened the ladder to its fullest extent, and then lowered it over the stairs, hoping that it would reach the main level.

It did, barely.

"After you," he said to Ginny. She laughed and started down the ladder.

* * *

Ron watched in horror as something came at them from the corner and captured Hermione. It was like a black shroud that glided along the ground.

"NO! _HERMIONE_!" he screamed, running towards her.

Ron took out his wand, panicking.

"_Stupefy!_" That had no affect whatsoever. Of course, it doesn't seem solid.

"_Reducto!_"

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

"_Impedimenta!" _

He was throwing every spell he knew at it, but one by one they all failed.

"Ron…" Hermione's voice came from under the creature, barely audible.

Through his panic Ron strained his ears to hear what she was saying.

"Ron…" she gasped, "Pa… Patronus…"

What had she said? Patronus? He had to conjure a Patronus! No… he wasn't able to do it yet…

Ron tried desperately to think of something happy, anything… but all that popped into his head were visions of horrible creatures and experiences.

_No, _he thought, willing himself to think of something happy… Hermione was in danger! Hermione…that's it Hermione!

Ron thought of her, nothing but her and was filled with a warm tingling from the tips of his toes to his finger tips. Memories of her came rushing to his mind, Hermione at age thirteen, bent over the Pollyjuice Potion. Hermione reading in the library, Hermione in the first ever D.A. meeting, Hermione…

"_Expecto Patronum!_" he yelled.

A puff of silver smoke.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The silver dust started to shape and then died away.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM! _EXPECTO PATRONUM!_"

At last, something in a definite form emerged from his wand. It was small and looked like a little dog, a Jack Russell Terrier in fact. It pelted towards the shadowy creature at top speed on its little legs.

The creature shied as the Patronus made contact with it, making an eerie sound as it backed away, screeching in protest. The little dog Patronus advanced, swiftly and jerkily. The creature tried to get at Hermione again, to finish what it had started, but the Patronus was in the way. Instead it swept towards Ron; the Patronus headed it off and touched it again.

Screeching in rage, the creature backed off again, then with one last look at its pray, swirled out the door to darker places where it could hunt in peace.

The Jack Russell disappeared as well, the shimmering light it had provided was gone with it, making the room a lot darker than it had been before.

Ron ran to Hermione's side, calling her name. She was still breathing… but only just. Hermione's eyelids fluttered open and she saw Ron over her, staring down at her; his face lined with concern and it was as white as a sheaf of parchment.

His eyes were as blue as ever, opened wide in concern… his blue, blue eyes…

"Hermione?" he asked anxiously, his chin quivering. Hermione blinked and saw tears in his eyes. Did he…? No.

"I'm alright," Hermione croaked trying to get up but sank back to the floor with a groan.

"You sure?" Ron asked in concern.

Hermione nodded and took in deep breaths of the stale, but wonderful air.

"What was that thing?" inquired Ron, looking out the door where the monster had left.

Hermione took another gulp of air and then said, "A lethifold. It smothers its prey and then eats them basically," she frowned, "They're supposed to live in tropical places though; not here of all places, it's too cold for them." She pondered a little longer and then said, "I'll bet Voldemort did something to either the creature or this place," she gestured towards the ceiling.

"Lethifolds," she went on, "are dangerous creatures… marked as impossible to train or domesticate by the Ministry of Magic. They're known wizard killers too. The only defense against them is the Patronus Charm." Her eyes widened.

"Your Patronus!" she cried, "Ron, you produced a Patronus! Congratulations, you must feel elated."

Ron blinked; he had been so worried about Hermione that he had completely forgotten the fact that he had just conjured a Patronus for the first time.

"Yeah…" he said staring at the wall, "Yeah! I actually did it!" A smile spread across his face and leaned against the wall, trying to remember how he had done it.

He looked at Hermione and his ears went red. She noticed this and looked at him confusedly.

"I thought that you would like to have a Patronus?" she asked in a hurt sort of way.

"It's not that…" Ron said, shifting uncomfortably, "It's just that… well… we've—we've been together all these years and…" he took a deep breath and looking Hermione in the eye he said sincerely, "I… I love you Hermione."

Hermione looked shocked. She seemed for once to be at loss for words. Ron quickly looked away; he had screwed up again… he shouldn't have told her. He chanced a glance at her and was astonished to see joy radiating from every part of her body. He could almost feel it!

"Oh, Ron…" she said, tears of happiness leaking from her eyes, "Ron… I love you too, Ron."

She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a breath-taking kiss. Ron could smell her, feel her soft lips against his… ah, bliss.

After what seemed an eternity, they broke apart, all smiles. Hermione looked at Ron mischievously and said, "I think we need to work on your settings. This isn't the most romantic place you know."

Ron's whole face went red, and Hermione laughed. Ron went, if possible, even redder and grinned sheepishly at her. Well, he had done it, and it hadn't been a total fluke.

* * *

At last, Luna was able to move her head a centimeter to her left. She caught sight of Neville's blank face and knew that something was wrong with him.

Then she realized the creature was there. She experienced the same horror she had when she had first seen it.

_Where did _that_ thing come from? _She asked herself. Then she remembered everything; the rumbling; the falling shelf; the creature emerging out of the shadows…

_Why hadn't I remembered this before? What is going on? _

Yet again the creature made the sound. Luna felt her brain trying to slip into nothingness but fought it with all the brain power she could muster.

She felt light headed and shaky, but she pressed on. Finally, whatever spell had been working on her was broken. She raised her wand and took aim.

"_Stupefy!_" she yelled. A jet of red light issued from her wand and headed for the creature's left side. The spell made contact, but it bounced of its scaly hide and rocketed back towards Luna.

She ducked and heard something shatter above her. It was one of the lamps that hung on the wall along the passageways in the house. Luna threw her arms over her head as she was cascaded with broken glass. She jumped sideways, out of the way of the glass fragments, and slipped on the scattered glass pieces on the floor.

She had the monster's full attention now; it swiveled away from Neville and made its way towards her.

Luna landed on her back and got up as fast as she could, looking around for the creature, only to find that it was right behind her ready to spring!

She dodged quickly to the right and it landed where she had been just a moment ago. It roared in rage and charged her.

Luna dodged again, but knew she wasn't quick enough. Her suspicions were confirmed when she felt on of the creature's claws rake across her cheek. Fortunately that was all the creature had done to her.

Neville was coming out of his stupor now, when he saw that Luna and the monster were engaged in battle he sent a stunning spell at it; only to find, as Luna did, that its scales repelled the spell.

"_Incarcerous!"_ Luna cried whirling around and flourishing her wand at the reptilian. Ropes flew out of the end of her wand and whizzed towards the fiend.

But the monstrous animal saw it and darted under the ropes with surprising agility. It went for Neville now, wanting to take care of what it saw as the lesser problem first. With a screech it pinned him to the ground, trying to sink its teeth into him.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" Neville bellowed. The raptor-like monster stiffened and then fell on top of him, its limbs fastened together against its body.

Neville heaved the form of the petrified lizard off of him, grunting as he did so. Luna rushed over and helped. They panted and heaved, and together they pushed the creature, which felt as if it weighed a ton, off Neville.

They were both breathing heavily now, as if they had run a mile in half a minute flat. The adrenalin that had come at the first moment of the attack still ran through their veins. They didn't pause to rest; they got away from that place as fast as they could, huffing and puffing down the hall.

They finally collapsed at the end of it, sinking to the ground as they could go no farther. While they rested, they kept a sharp lookout for any other creature like the one that had attacked them. Fortunately, no more creatures lurked in _this _passageway.

When their want-for-breath-attack subsided, they sat looking back at the hallway where the now paralyzed creature lay, motionless. They both shuddered and looked at each other.

"Should we get on?" Neville asked, turning towards the doors ahead of them.

"Uh huh," said Luna calmly, getting up and striding down the passageway with a sort of spring in her step.

Neville followed her with raised eyebrows; they had just fought one of the most horrible creatures on earth and she was bouncing jovially across the hall! Oh well, that was Luna for you.

They found nothing in the rooms, though one interesting one held broken pictures of some of the children that had lived there.

"I wonder which one Tom Riddle was," said Neville suddenly.

Luna examined the unmoving figures in the muggle photographs.

"That one," she said, pointing to a black haired youth about ten. He had a maniac glint in his eye and all the other children in the photo seemed to be afraid of him. "He's probably that one."

"That'll be him," Neville agreed furiously. Already at age… ten, Voldemort had been inspiring fear into people's hearts. Not only that, but he had put fear into little children's hearts.

They looked at the pictures a little longer, picking out Riddle in every one and seeing his and the other children's reactions to each other.

These were not happy photos. Well, there were a few exceptions: the pictures of young Tom Riddle at a younger age than eight. He seemed to not have found his powers yet and was a loner, sulking in the back of the frame while all the other children were smiling happily.

They found no more interesting things, and no horcrux. So they set off along the small maze of corridors to the entryway where the others were waiting.

* * *

"Find anything?" Harry asked as Neville and Luna emerged from the right-hand passageway.

They both shook their heads and Harry noticed a deep cut on Luna's right cheek.

They all noticed like-wise the scratch on his back.

"Are you—?" They all asked at once, and then laughed. It seemed like they were all one big family, concerned about each others problems. Now they were voicing their concerns at the same time.

"I'm fine," Harry and Luna at the same time. Then they all told theirs stories about what had happened in the house.

When Harry and Ginny had finished recounting their adventure, after many gasps of horror, the other four exclaimed, "Oh, _that's_ what that was." They of course were talking about the stairs blowing up.

Then it was Ron and Hermione's turn. Ginny started as Hermione described the experience of being seized by the lethifold.

"You shouldn't have done that though," she said when they had finished, "call out to it."

Hermione went red and said softly, "I know."

"There's one thing I've been wondering," Ron said, looking at what remained of the stairs, "How come we didn't hear each other screaming?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Well that's obvious isn't it? Voldemort put a silencing spell on the whole place so no one _would _hear each other screaming. I wonder if he expected to have a team of people searching this place." She looked around and shrugged.

Neville and Luna told their adventure next. Harry and Ginny's eyes widened as they described the creature that had attacked them.

"It was the same kind!" Ginny said, interrupting their tale. "It was the same kind of creature! I wonder how many of them are in this place."

The others shivered, hoping that there were no more. Then as Neville told them about the photos Harry smirked grimly. He had suspected as much.

After Neville and Luna finished recounting their venture, Harry said, "So, no horcrux. But we haven't checked the basement yet." He pointed to a door under where the stairs had been. The others nodded and made towards the door when…

It was that sound…the sound that those reptilian creatures made! Harry turned around and saw one coming out of the right-hand side corridor. He looked up and saw the two that attacked him and Ginny coming from above. How had they escaped the body binds? No time to ponder now.

"COVER YOUR EARS AND RUN!" Harry bellowed. Ron and Hermione stared in terror at the creatures approaching them. Luna and Neville ran for it, towards the basement. Harry grabbed Ron's arm and Ginny grabbed Hermione's, and together they sprinted after their companions. They had almost reached the door when one of the creatures blocked them, making that eerie, desolate noise.

They all pressed their hands to their ears, shutting out the sound. One of Harry and Ginny's monsters jumped out of nowhere at Ron.

Hermione screamed and went to her wand.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" she squealed.

_Thud_. The creature fell to the floor, motionless. The other two creatures screeched in fury and charged.

Harry wrenched the door open and the others pounded down. Harry was about to follow when something rammed him between the shoulder blades.

"AARGHH!" he yelled, tumbling down the stairs head-first. He hit Ron's legs and he fell into the others. Like a stack of dominos they all plunged down the stairs. Harry saw a shimmering gold mist ahead and tried to stop, but it was no use. They met the barrier head-on, falling into its depths.

Whirling and spinning of color and sound. Harry was being pushed all over the place, running into the others. They were being pushed from all sides. Harry seized Ginny's hand and she grabbed Ron's, who grabbed Hermione's. Hermione clutched Luna's hand while she held onto Neville. They were all spinning now, but together at least.

Spinning… spinning. Harry felt all his air supply being sucked out of his lungs.

THUD!

They all landed on yet another wooden floor, hard. They were too dazed to look around, just panting and gasping.

Ginny regained her composure first, she looked around and saw that they were in a boarded up old house. One broken bed stood in the corner and to her right were double doors that were ripped off their hinges.

Neville had seen too.

"Hey!" he cried, looking through the doors. They led to some stairs. "Is this the Shrieking Shack?"

Harry's head snapped up under the jumble of bodies. He flung Luna off him and stood up, gazing around the room.

"Not our Shrieking Shack," he said, turning around and around, taking in his surroundings, "we had two more beds in here and those doors aren't there anymore." Hermione was up too, looking anxiously around the room. Then she turned directly to Harry.

"Okay," she said urgently, "let's get this straightened out. Check the Marauder's Map."

Harry didn't know what good it would do, but he took it out of his pocket all the same.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._"

The passageways of Hogwarts appeared, winding their way onto the map. Dots formed here and there all over the map.

Harry looked at one of the dots and drew in a deep, surprised breath. It read, _Severus Snape_.

"Snape!" he cried. The others pushed forward to look over his shoulder. He pointed to the map. Snape was in the dungeons, no surprise there, but how could he be at Hogwarts?

"How did he get in?" Ron asked incredulously, staring at the dot, "with all the aurors at every entrance."

"That's because there aren't any aurors Ron," said Hermione in a scared voice. Harry looked at her and saw that her face was chalk white.

Harry scanned the grounds, no one was there.

"Where did they all go?" he exclaimed, scanning the corridors for any patrolling staff or aurors. There was no one patrolling, the corridors were empty now.

"Wait a minute!" Neville said, pushing forwards and examining the map so quickly his eyes were a blur.

"Where's Seamus? Dean? Parvati, Lavender, Ernie? I don't see anyone we know. _Who are these people?_"

Harry scrutinized the map closely. Marina Jensen, Kyle Fold, Krista Newman… what was going on?

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something moving across the grounds. His attention snapped to it.

Three people were walking across the grounds from the castle. No… it—it couldn't be! Hermione saw them too and gasped.

They were labeled _Peter Pettigrew… Sirius Black, and… **James Potter**_.

It couldn't be, all of them were dead but Pettigrew… unless... this couldn't be… the _past_!

It took Harry a while to accept that they were probably in the past. That barrier they fell through must have sent them here.

Then… if it was the past… and they were all on the grounds, probably in an invisibility cloak…it was a full moon!

Hermione gave a little scream and stared wide-eyed at Harry. They had both put it together.

"LUPIN!" they cried in unison.

As they did there was a tremendous howl at the bottom of the stairs and there came the sounds of crashing and banging.

A/N: **Wow! Was that chapter action-packed or _what!_ Boy am I pleased with that one! How'd ya like it? Huh, huh, huh? jumps up and down in excitement over her best accomplishment to date**

**Oooh! My first cliffy! Will the friends escape the vicious werewolf? How have they ended up into the past? Will they survive? To find out, stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**EveningSongEnchantment **

**P.S. If anyone likes _Warriors _by Erin Hunter, I suggest you stop by Shnitz's section! Shnitzenhimer. Don't forget the name! Just look her up in the search and read her fabulous writings!**


	11. Chapter 11: What Now?

**A/N: I don't know quite how to say this…but I'm quitting. This fic isn't going anywhere. I was only able to write two more chapters before I broke down with a lot of flaws. I have NO idea what to do for the other horcruxes and my imagination has failed me on how to get the six to do everything I want. It turns to other things instead…**

**I've considered, for a long time now, writing my own stories. I'd like to try to use my writing abilities to put a novel or something out in the world. That alone takes up much of my time these days. I can't keep up with the fic! **

**Then there are my friends, who demand just as much of my time and swimming lessons every afternoon. Oh! There's much, much more. But I will not bore you with my monologueing. **

**I guess what I'm trying to do is…say good-bye. I'm sorry to disappoint all my readers. But fans, I hope you've liked this tale as far as I've gotten it! We've had lots of cool times together. **

**Anyone who's willing to try can take up the story-line thread where I've left off and attempt to finish the story. Just make sure you mention me and my fic in the disclaimer along with J.K. Rowling. **

**Ramen Goddess (aka- Mysterious Mistress Kura). Thank you so very much for all your support and diligent reviews! I'm sorry I won't be seeing more of them. Stay happy! And keep smiling. **

**Shntiz. We've been through a lot together, being Betas and reading each other's works. I hope that those memories will last a long, long time. **

**I extend my most sincere apologies to each of you two special people. You've been with me from start…and now to the finish. I'm going to make an end. It's nothing special, I'll leave the story hanging. It won't be a big, fantastic cliffie or a smashing conclusion! But maybe the whole thing will spark all of your imaginations and you can take up the mantle to finish the story on your own! I hope you all aren't too hurt. **

**Two more chapters. That's all you've got. I'm sooo, so sorry. **

**-E.S.E.**

**Disclaimer: The story belongs to me. The epic, belongs to J.K. Rowling. I could do nothing more than copy her brilliant world for my starting boost. **

**A/N: Now that I have the boost from my first writing work, I can go on to writing stories of my own. I've been grateful to all of you for your encouragement! Again, I apologize for stopping it. And I'll shut-up now and get back to the story one last time. **

**With that, enjoy these last two chapters! **

**-E.S.E. **

**

* * *

Chapter 11: "What Now?" **

Crash. Bang. Roar! Lupin in his werewolf form was blundering up the stairs, towards the human voices it had heard. He came crashing into the room where six teenage humans were grouped around a piece of paper. With a roar it plunged towards them, jaw open wide.

Ginny, Hermione, and Luna all screamed while the boys all yelled as the werewolf came at them. They separated just in time and Harry stuffed the Marauder's Map in his pocket.

The werewolf that was Lupin whirled around and came at Luna, ready to have a meal.

"_Impedimenta!_" Hermione shrieked. The werewolf was thrown against the wall, but that didn't stop it. It was right back up and came at them again.

"RUN!" Harry bellowed, raising his wand to attack the oncoming animal.

The others did as he said obediently, pelting as fast as they could towards the door, Ginny in the lead. Harry sent a stunning spell at the werewolf, but missed. Then he turned on his heal and fled after the others.

They ran down the passageway and to the stairs. A nail that was sticking out of the floor boards tripped Ginny on the topmost stair, and she fell, screaming down the staircase. Ron, who had been going very fast, tripped over his sister and accidentally kicked Hermione who in turn tripped up the others. They were a set of dominos again, falling down the stairs in a tangle of arms and legs.

Harry's head hit something hard and little stars popped out of no where. He felt dazed as he landed on the first floor, his right leg under Luna and his other was trapped under Hermione. Ron was on top of him trying to get out of the pile of people. The werewolf was still close behind them; Harry could hear it at the top of the stairs, roaring in triumph.

Ron was finally off him, Harry leapt up, forgetting that his legs were still trapped and fell over backwards. Scrambling around in an unorganized fashion, they all somehow got loose and streaked towards the passageway, closely pursued by the werewolf.

They had reached the passageway when Ron, who was looking back at the werewolf rammed his head into a doorframe. He fell backwards, yelling as he went.

Harry turned around and raised his wand to attack. Before he could utter a spell however, something jumped clean over him and charged the werewolf. It was a white stag, closely followed by a humongous black dog.

Harry knew who they were, James Potter and Sirius Black. The dog locked onto the werewolf's neck and pulled it backwards. Harry ran to where Ron was lying and yanked him to his feet. Together they sprinted for the passageway, not looking back.

When they were safely inside, he counted heads. He suddenly realized Neville wasn't there.

"NEVILLE?" he yelled, looking for his companion.

"There!" Luna said, pointing to the top of the stairs, it seemed Neville had not known where to go and now couldn't find them.

As Luna said "There!" the werewolf threw off Sirius and he hit the wall, whimpering. Lupin then dodged the white stag that blocked his way and scaled the staircase. Neville, who hadn't seen the animal coming, found himself knocked off his feet.

Luna ran up the passageway as fast as her legs could take her, Ginny and Harry close behind her. Harry was just about to come out into the open when something collided with his shoulder. Harry didn't get to see what had hit him because he was spun right into Ginny.

"Oof!" They crashed to the floor again. As they untangled and rushed up the corridor, but they had lost momentum and wouldn't be there in time.

Luna felt something whisk past her as she ran up the secret passageway under the Whomping Willow to save Neville. She heard a thud behind her, but didn't stop to look around.

She was mounting the stairs now, taking them three at a time. The werewolf was on top of Neville, about to bite.

"Impedimenta!" Luna cried, aiming at the werewolf's chest. The werewolf was thrown backwards and into the age rotten banisters. The banisters cracked and broke as the werewolf hit it, sending it tumbling to the ground below.

Luna pulled Neville to his feet and they ran to the passageway, the sound of a dog, werewolf, and stag fighting below.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and nearly collided with Harry and Ginny.

"Let's get out of here!" Harry panted, running back towards Ron and Hermione.

They met Ron and Hermione halfway up the hall. The six of them darted the rest of the way out.

As they got into the open air Ron, clutching a stitch in his side shouted, "Hurry! Up to the castle!"

Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Are you _mad_?" she cried.

"We can't be seen!" she and Harry said at the same time.

"We can't stay here, are you mad?" Ron said indignantly.

They all stopped and turned to the dark forest.

"Well," Hermione said nervously, staring between the trees, "It's not like we haven't been in there before… we practically know it by heart by now!"

Ginny, Neville, Ron, and Luna all looked at them as though they were mad.

"Don't we get a vote?" Ron asked, looking apprehensively at the trees.

There came the noise of fighting behind them, half-way up the passage.

"Go!" Harry said urgently, setting off towards the trees at a run.

The others looked at each other and followed, though somewhat reluctantly. They tromped through the thick underbrush, nettles clinging to their clothes.

They didn't stop until they were sure they were far enough away from the Shack. Surprisingly, they met nothing, not one bird or other living creature, least of all a dangerous one. This was very peculiar for the Forest, anytime Harry had been in it he had experienced things he would rather not experience again.

He had met Voldemort his first trip into the forest, drinking unicorn's blood through his servant Quarrel, whom he was possessing at the time. The second time he had gone in he and Ron had met a giant spider by the name of Aragog; they had narrowly missed being his descendants' meal. In his third and fourth year, he had only gone into the edge of the forest and had met trouble. He and Hermione had almost met Lupin in his wolfish form. In his fourth year, Harry had been talking with Viktor Krum about Hermione when Barty Crouch Sr. had turned up, asking, in a strange frame of mind, to see Dumbledore.

Two years previous, they had gone into the forest and met a giant by the name of Grawp, who's favorite past time was ripping up sixteen foot pines. Grawp had become much more of a gentleman since then, but that first encounter had been terrifying all the same. Then, later that year, they had met mad centaurs who were ready to kill them and had encountered Grawp yet again.

And so, all of Harry's experiences weren't worth reliving really, not if you wanted to risk your neck that is.

The six friends found a secluded spot, not far into the forest and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

"What is going on?" Neville said between gasps for breath, "This is Hogwarts obviously, but where did the werewolf come from? I'm sure that one wouldn't come alone, considering there's supposed to be a whole lot of them."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other; time to tell their suspicions.

"Well…" Hermione started, biting her lip, "It would seem as though… as though we are in the past."

The others were silent, staring at her as though she had lost her mind.

"What proof is there of that?" Ron asked incredulously.

Harry sighed and told them about what he and Hermione had seen on the Marauder's Map and what they had deduced.

Silence again.

"But…" Ron stammered, "But… that would mean…"

No one had any idea of what he was talking about, neither did Ron it seemed, he was just babbling out of shock.

Ron gulped and said, "Now what'll we do?"

"Wait till dawn," Harry replied, "Until Lupin is back to normal it isn't safe."

"I mean about this time situation," Ron said hotly, "What do we do about that?"

He looked around at everyone else, they seemed to be inclined to ask the same question. Except Hermione, as usual.

"We'll have to get a time-turner of course!" she said at once, looking at them as though they should have thought of the idea too.

"No!" Harry said so aggressively that everyone stared at him, "We can't go to the Ministry of Magic! We'll get back to our time and they'll force us to tell them how we got into the past. That would mean exposing the quest!"

Hermione's face turned pale. That wouldn't be good… not at all. If they Ministry found out…

"But we can't stay here!" Ginny said, looking around the forest clearing.

"No, no," Neville said, agreeing with her.

They all looked at Luna, she hadn't said a word since they had arrived in the clearing. She was just sitting there, watching the conversation as though it were an interesting program on television.

When she saw them looking at her like that she said, as though it were the obvious thing to do, "We go to Dumbledore of course."

"But—" Hermione started.

"He's alive here in the past, we just have to talk to him. He'll know what to do." Luna said with such finality that Hermione stared at her open-mouthed.

"But we can't! We can't be seen in the past! It's one of the rules of time travel. If he found out about the future things could go disastrously wrong. The future could be altered to who knows what end!"

"I'm telling you, we have to talk to Dumbledore!"

"Oh yeah," Harry said sarcastically, he was getting impatient and didn't like the bickering. "no offense Luna but I can really see that conversation.

" 'Hello, we're from the future, where you've been murdered and we've gone on a quest to find Voldemort's horcruxes… we can't give people knowledge of the future! Not even Dumbledore."

"We just tell him select things, we don't have to tell the _whole _story," argued Luna.

"Even a _little _bit of future knowledge could drastically change the future!" Hermione practically screamed, she was at a breaking point now.

She turned on Ron.

"Help me!" she said, looking at him furiously.

Ron looked as though he would rather do anything else; he just wanted to keep out of the argument.

But Hermione wouldn't have it. He sighed and said to Luna, "Well, I'm sure they're right. After all, Hermione and Harry have time traveled before."

Luna crossed her arms over her chest.

"What do you propose we do then?" she asked, glaring at them.

They tried and tried to figure out some other plan. But finally, after an hour of bickering, they adopted Luna's plan.

"Good," she said, smiling, "now, how do we go about this?"

"I don't see any way to get to Dumbledore without being seen," Harry said, "The invisibility cloak won't fit all of us, and we certainly can't go wandering around the packed corridors, and they are bound to be packed, disillusioned, what if we run into someone?"

"We'll just have to take that risk," Luna said.

Harry sighed. He didn't like this, not one bit… but it was their only option.

"We should get some sleep," he said, "I'll take the first watch."

And so they slept, or at least tried to; relieving one another of watch duty every hour.

Dawn came and everyone got up, though none of them felt very rested. Harry offered the cloak to Ginny, she was smaller and could probably fit under it with Luna.

Ginny shook her head, declining his offer.

"If we're caught," she said shortly before Harry insisted that she take it, "you, above all of us will look the most suspicious. I mean, this is the past and you look almost exactly like your father from all that we've ever heard. If we're caught we could say that we're just students pulling a prank."

"But we're seventh and sixth years! People who have gone to Hogwarts for six or seven years are going to be recognized by teachers, and when they realize we aren't one of those people what do we say?"

Hermione pushed forward, cutting in on the argument.

"We pretend we're exchange students from another school and want to talk to Professor Dumbledore," she said, putting that genius mind of hers to work.

"There's only one flaw," Harry said, musing, "We don't have accents!"

Hermione thought about this one for a while, it took her quite a long time to come up with a solution.

"We say we haven't been in one school long enough to obtain one," she said finally, "We grew up mainly in London and were sent to a foreign school; it wasn't for us so we changed schools. We have been doing this for years and are now going to try Hogwarts."

"Very thorough," Harry said, thinking the plan over in his head, "but there's still a hitch, I look too much like my dad!"

"Well, we won't have to pretend any of this until we're caught, _if _we're caught. If we can make it to Dumbledore's office without being discovered we'll have the first part of our problems remedied."

And so it was decided, if they were caught by anyone, especially a teacher, that was their cover story.

So, the six time travelers set off towards the castle doors, hoping against hope that this would work.

* * *

"This can't be as hard as the night we broke into Hogwarts," said Ron as they crossed the grounds. 

It was now about eight o'clock in the morning; they had taken so long in the forest, formulating a plan that classes had already started. Now their most feared obstacle was present: the students.

"No," Harry whispered from under the cloak, "It's going to be harder."

They had now reached the steps and were about to enter the castle. Harry paused with his hand on the door.

"Are you guys sure about this?" he asked quietly.

The others whispered their consent and prepared to dodge through crowds of milling students. They had hesitated too long.

The great oak doors swung open and a whole class of third year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors spilled out onto the lawn, heading towards the greenhouses.

Harry and his friends pressed themselves against the wall behind the oak doors, trying not to make contact with the students before them.

Luckily, the third-years stayed oblivious to their presence and continued on their way to Herbology.

Harry heard Hermione give a small sigh of relief and led the rest of the group into the entrance hall.

Students were streaming out of the great hall in every direction, chatting about their classes and gossiping about the latest news.

Hermione gasped and flattened herself against the wall as a burly Slytherin boy brushed past them.

"Let's get out of this hallway," Harry heard Ron whisper.

They hurried up the staircase and into a less crowded corridor, but there were still students to dodge.

"That was quite an encounter last night wasn't it Padfoot?" whispered a voice close by. Harry had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from shouting in surprise. There, standing a few feet from him was his father.

He looked almost exactly like Harry did now. He was about as tall as Harry was; had messy, jet black hair that stuck up in the back, just like Harry; and their faces almost looked identical; except for the fact that Harry had his famous scar on his forehead and his mother's almond shaped, emerald eyes. Harry estimated that they must be around the same age too.

Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were all walking beside him, huddled in a small group as they made their way to Charms. Obviously they were talking about the encounter they had had with Harry and his friends last night.

Sirius… Lupin… Harry felt tears well up in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away.

Harry could tell that the others had stopped too. He came to his senses and nudged Hermione in the small of her back, signaling her to keep going.

He heard Hermione's sharp intake of breath and saw her disillusioned form start down the passageway, a little slower than before.

The others followed her example and tiptoed past the Marauders.

"Who do you think they were?" Peter asked interestedly.

"Dunno," James said, "I haven't seen any of them in my life, and they looked about our age so they couldn't be Hogwarts students…" his voice trailed off wonderingly.

"We may never know," Lupin said with a shrug of his shoulders. Last night's ordeal seemed to have taken it's toll on him; let's just say he didn't look in tip-top form.

Harry wanted to hear more, but he and his friends had business to attend to. Before he was tempted to listen in, he ran up the corridor after the others.

_Of course,_ Harry thought, furious at himself for not anticipating this, _I should have expected this, we are in the past after all. _

When he had reached the end of the corridor, his father's voice fading away, he looked around for the others.

"Guys," he whispered as quietly as he could without any of the other students in the hall hearing him.

"Here," Hermione's voice said just as quietly from his left.

Harry rushed over to the wall and flattened himself against it, looking at the others' disillusioned bodies.

"Oi," Ron said in hushed tones, "I wasn't expecting _that_. Did you see them? They're a rag tag group those four."

Harry heard Hermione give an exasperated sniff.

"Of course we saw them Ron," she said hotly, "And _of course_ they're a 'rag tag' group; they've become animaguses together for Pete's sake!"

"I—" Ron started to argue, but Harry cut him off.

"Not now," he whispered urgently, looking around at the students before them, "later. We have to get to Dumbledore's office!"

Hermione bit her lip. She had forgotten the circumstances under which they were traveling.

"Right," she said quietly, "Lets go."

So they set off again, navigating through the many hallways and passageways of Hogwarts.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. They had made it; they had gotten to Dumbledore's office without incident, that was a relief. Usually _something _would have happened, but thankfully, nothing had happened today.

They started trying every strange password they could think of, whispering them of course because students passed them at different intervals.

"Cockroach Cluster!" said Ron.

"Lemon drop!" Hermione said.

"Chocolate frog?" Neville asked quietly.

The list went on and on, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Chewing Gum…none of them worked.

"Lollipops!" Hermione cried out of desperation.

The stone gargoyle sprang from the wall, revealing the winding staircase behind it.

"Lollipops?" Harry asked, taken aback.

Hermione's disillusioned shoulders went up in a shrug. They all took a deep breath and went up the stairs before another student came along and noticed the headmaster's staircase was open and decided to investigate.

They came to the door leading into Dumbledore's office and knocked with the Griffin knocker. Then they opened door and stepped into the brightly lit office, closing the door behind them very quickly.

There he was, Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of all time. He looked slightly younger than when Harry had known him, but still had the same beard and same, knowing expression in his eyes.

He was stroking Fawkes, his phoenix, who was on his perch, and looking at the door with a mildly surprised expression.

Harry realized that he knew they were disillusioned and invisible, so he threw off the cloak and un-disillusioned the others.

Dumbledore took one look at Harry and his eyebrows raised even higher than they had been before. He stopped stroking the phoenix and stared at him intently, his deep blue eyes calculating.

"Er—" Harry said, shifting under the pressure of Dumbledore's gaze, "sir? Could we—er—talk to you?"

Dumbledore stared at him a little longer, and then swept over to the chair behind his desk. He took out his wand and conjured six chairs for them to sit in. They took the chairs nervously, Hermione was beginning to regret coming here. What if everything fell apart because they had come?

There was silence as Dumbledore contemplated his guests, his eyes traveling from Luna's dreamy face, to Hermione's anxious features.

Then he spoke.

"I am guessing you are in the wrong place in the wrong _time_?" he said, putting special emphasis on the word.

Hermione bit her lip and nodded slightly, then turned her gaze towards Harry. The others did the same, waiting for their leader to present their formulated conversation.

Harry averted his eyes from Dumbledore's face, which he had been staring at the whole time, and looked at the floor.

He took a deep breath and said, "Well, you see sir," he looked at the others and said, "We're in the wrong time, and we don't exactly know how we got here or how to get back."

Then he told Dumbledore, vaguely about what had happened, following the formulated story to the letter. It was dull, but hardly any useful information about the future could be gleaned from it.

Dumbledore looked them all in the eye and said,

"You keep information of future events to yourselves. Very good. But why don't you tell the Ministry your story?"

Harry had been expecting that question. He turned to Hermione, it was her turn.

"Well…" she said, "You see sir, we were…sort of in a place where we weren't allowed to be. We'll get expelled in the middle of our last year if we're caught…or worse than expelled…" she ended lamely.

"Yes," Ginny said, hurrying to take up the story, "And you see… in our time, it wouldn't be good for us… for _any _of us to not have our whole education."

Dumbledore nodded, still studying them.

"I see," he said. He had his elbows on his desk and his hands were brought together at the tips. He leaned back in his chair, his fingertips still together, "Are there any more complications that I should know about?"

"Yes," Harry said, looking nervously around the room at the portraits of previous headmasters, "My…my dad and mum are in this time, and…" his voice trailed off and he gave a hopeless shrug.

Dumbledore sighed, "I thought as much. You look exactly like James Potter, except for your eyes, and unless I am mistaken they are Lily Evan's eyes."

Harry didn't say anything, it would not do to have Dumbledore know who his mother was. It was obvious that James was his father, but he would not reveal anything else if he could help it, that was vital information.

"You all had a plan of action if you were caught by one of my teachers I presume?" Dumbledore asked.

Hermione nodded and said, "We were going to say we were exchange students and wanted to see you, sir."

Dumbledore stared at the ceiling, thinking. He stayed in that position for over ten minutes while his future students sat in silence.

Finally, Dumbledore came out of his reverie.

"I suppose there is nothing for it but to get you a time-turner," he said.

"Oh but—" Hermione started, looking fearfully at the other five as though she knew something they didn't. But a mysterious look from Dumbledore silenced her. She sat back in her chair, watching Dumbledore strangely. Harry got the feeling that he was missing something.

"While I get a time-turner, you will all have to pose as exchange students," Dumbledore went on calmly.

"But sir!" Hermione said, jumping up and looking at him as though he were something terribly frightening, "The affect that could have on the future! We can't…we—" She looked around desperately at her companions, who were all staring at Dumbledore.

"I will work it out," Dumbledore said mysteriously, "There is a certain time-turner for this job." Here he gave Hermione a significant look.

Hermione's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open to its full extent. She looked like she was about to speak, but seemed to decide against it and closed her mouth. She sank back into her chair, staring at Dumbledore and thinking.

"Excuse me," Dumbledore said, walking towards the door, "But I must talk to my staff. They will know less details than I; that you are simply exchange students. You meanwhile, must fine tune your cover story."

With that he closed the door and left them in silence. The portraits were all staring at the future-lings in thoughtful silence.

"What does he mean 'fine-tune'?" asked Ron, breaking the silence. He was staring after Dumbledore. He too felt like he had missed something.

Hermione snapped out of her trance and glared at him.

"Well there are flaws obviously!" she barked irritably.

Harry thought about it. There weren't any flaws that he could see. Hermione saw that they were getting no where and sighed exasperatedly. As she opened her mouth to explain it hit Harry.

"Of course!" he cried, "Names!"

"What about them?" Neville asked, while Luna looked up in confusion.

"Our names," Harry said cryptically, sitting down and staring at the floor.

"What's wrong with them?" Ron asked, not knowing where this subject was going.

"We need to change them," Hermione growled. How could he be so thick?

"Wha—?" Ron started.

Harry smiled grimly and said, "Well I can't go around calling myself Harry _Potter_ now can I? What if my parents heard it? I already look too much like my dad, but to have the same last name?" Harry shook his head, it wouldn't do.

"And what if someone recognizes your last name Ron?" asked Hermione, pushing the point further.

"We need new names then," Ginny said decidedly, "But mine has to be the same as Ron's. Any fool could tell that we're siblings."

Harry nodded.

"But we can't have wizard last names," he said, "Especially the last names of wizards we know, or someone's going to think we're related. We'll have to pick them carefully."

The others nodded their agreement and all stared around the room, thinking.

"Harry," Hermione said thinking hard, "Why don't you be…Colbey! We only need to change last names because first names don't pose a problem."

"Why Colbey?" asked Luna.

"Because Colbey is a muggle name!" Hermione said angrily.

"Harry Colbey," Harry said, trying out his new name, "Yeah, I like it, Harry Colbey."

"Well," Hermione said, "That's one down, just a few more to go."

Neville had been thinking throughout the whole conversation for a good last name.

"How about, Neville Horton?" he asked, looking around at the others.

"Yeah!" Ron said enthusiastically, "Okay, so it's Harry Colbey and Neville Horton. Why don't I be Ron Thomas?"

"I don't know…" Hermione said, "Dean's last name is Thomas…"

"Well neither of Dean's parents are wizards!" Ron said in his defense, "We won't have a problem."

"Oh," Hermione said, "Alright, unless Ginny doesn't like the name," she turned to Ginny, who had been watching the conversation from a little way off.

Ginny shrugged, the name was fine with her.

"I'll be Luna Snorkack!" said Luna brightly.

Hermione looked like she was about to argue, but Luna beat her to a sentence.

"There is no other last name 'Snorkack' so I'm fine," she said decisively.

Hermione was weighing arguing and making her point. She sighed and then said, "Okay, Harry Colbey, Neville Horton, Ron Thomas, Ginny Thomas, and Luna Snorkack."

The others waited. When Hermione didn't say anything Harry said, "And you?"

Hermione looked surprised at this question.

"Me?" she said, surprised. Then she smiled comically, "Why I'll be Miss Hermione Granger, because no one knows my parents."

Everyone laughed. And then Hermione was all business again.

"Right," she said, looking around at them all, "so this is the story if we're asked who we are. We say we are exchange students from another school. If they ask about our absent accents we tell them that we grew up most of our childhood in London and were sent to many different schools all over the world. We never stayed in one school long enough to obtain an accent. And now we want to try Hogwarts. Our names are Harry Colbey, Neville Horton, Ron and Ginny Thomas, Luna Snorkack," she frowned slightly at this, but went on, "and Hermione Granger. Got that everyone?"

The others nodded. But Harry frowned. Ginny noticed his mood.

"What's wrong Harry?" she asked, bringing his emotions to the attention of the others.

Harry looked up at them, still frowning.

"There's still a hitch," he said, "I look too much like my dad."

They were all silent, now they had come to the real problem. How to fix it?

"Ah!" Hermione said, snapping her fingers together, "Allow me to remedy this problem."

She took out her wand and pointed it at Harry, who's reaction was to flinch a little. Hermione waved her wand once in a complicated way and Harry's hair became blond.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" he asked, looking at himself and not finding any difference.

The others all laughed.

"What is it?" Harry said, whirling around and trying to find what Hermione had done to him.

He caught sight of his reflection in one of Dumbledore's strange silver instruments. He rubbed his eyes and held out a strand of his hair from his head, making sure it was actually there.

It was. His hair was as blond as blond can be. He still looked like his father, but the blond hair made a big difference. He couldn't change his other features, but Hermione's hair color changing spell was impressive; _immensely _impressive.

"I know you've heard this many times before Hermione," Harry said, looking at his reflection in the silver object, "But you are brilliant!"

Hermione blushed, one never got tired of hearing it really.

"Well," Ginny said, staring at Harry and frowning a little. She wasn't used to the blond hair; quite frankly, she had liked it just the way it was, but it couldn't be helped. "I suppose that's the best we can do. Nothing else is very changeable and with a little luck we can do it."

The others nodded, still staring at Harry; his new look needed some getting used to. Just then the door to the office opened. Everyone whirled around, ready for a fight. Their trained reflexes were getting the better of them.

Dumbledore came into the room, looking thoughtful. When he saw Harry, he smiled.

"Ah," he said, looking Harry up and down, "good, very good. Now," he turned to the rest of the group, "I will escort you to the Great Hall for lunch, there the students will be given the announcement that you are exchange students that are going to try out Hogwarts. The story is that you have arrived late because of difficulties at home. You have already been sorted into your Houses and will be taking classes with the sixth and seventh years. What Houses are you in might I ask?"

They told him and he thought a little more. Then he said, "You have everything else covered I expect?"

The six of them nodded.

"Good," Dumbledore said, he turned and opened the door wide, "The Great Hall awaits. Oh," he said, looking them over critically, "I think we should change into robes before the classes are let out."

Harry only just noticed the state of his clothes. His muggle shirt was torn where the reptilian creature had slashed him. The rest of his clothes were filthy and torn as well. The others looked no better; Hermione's hair was full of twigs from the dark forest and Luna's cheek was turning black and blue around the cut she had received. Everyone else was in like-wise condition.

No wonder the portraits had been staring at them the whole time. Not only were they from the future, but they were a group of ragged travelers too.

Dumbledore snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared. Dumbledore told him to go to the laundry and bring the guests some school robes. The house elf bowed and scurried away.

"The robes will be replaced as soon as possible so no one will expect that you came suddenly," he said after the house elf had left.

The friends nodded and waited for the house elf to return. Harry was furious with himself again, why hadn't he thought about it? To turn up in the Great Hall as exchange students that were late was a suspicious enough, but to turn up in this state?

_You would have to be stupid, _one part of his brain told himself.

_No, _said another side, _you aren't stupid, you're just tired. All of us are you know. _

Harry looked around at the others, they too looked like they were realizing what would happen if they had turned up like they were.

The house elf came back with robes that fitted everyone perfectly. Luna looked at hers and frowned.

"Sir," she said, looking at her robes confused, "These are Gryffindor robes."

"Ah yes," Dumbledore said, "I am sorry, but I thought it best if you all were in the same house to keep an eye on each other. I regret that I had to make a decision at your expense."

He bowed slightly to Luna, who was thinking it over. Then she sighed and proceeded to put her new school robes on over her muggle ones.

With robes to cover their clothes they looked slightly better, but their faces were covered with dust and grime. Everyone had scratches everywhere on their arms and faces and twigs in their hair. Luna looked the worst; first of all she had the nasty cut on the cheek, and on top of that she had leaves and twigs in her hair and her eyes protruded out of her face more than usual.

Dumbledore noticed this, and with a wave of his wand the leaves and twigs vanished and their cuts and bruises healed. The filth that had been building up on them disappeared too, but everyone still felt quite dirty.

"That will have to do for now," Dumbledore said, "You will attend the afternoon classes and then you may take baths. Now I think we must go down to the Hall."

Harry felt like butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach. If they messed this up…

Harry shook himself, this was no time to think about that, they had to act according to the plan.

Class was not out yet, so they met no one in the corridors on their way to the Great Hall. They went down several staircases and came to the entrance of the familiar Great Hall. It looked as magnificent as ever; the high ceiling the size of a Cathedral, the long House tables and the staff table at the end of the room.

Harry looked up at the ceiling, seeing what the weather was like today. The sky was bright blue with a few thunder clouds.

"Sir?" Harry asked, a sudden thought accruing to him that was necessary to the plan. "What is the date today?"

Hermione gave a small gasp, how could they forget something that important?

"The fourteenth of September," was Dumbledore's reply, "And I advise you to watch your fellow students, that way there is less confusion."

The six of them nodded again for about the fifth time that day.

"Now," Dumbledore said, stopping at a door behind the staff table. He opened it and indicated for them to step into the room, "You will stay here until I call you. Then I will introduce you to the school and you will take seats at the Gryffindor table."

They nodded again, completely silent. Dumbledore smiled down at them.

"Good luck," he said and closed the door.

Harry looked around the room, remembering the night he had been picked by the Goblet of Fire for the Triwizard Tournament. It had been in this very room that he had properly met Fleur and Viktor Krum. It was here where the really bad times began.

The first sounds of students coming to lunch snapped him back to the present.

_Keep your mind here, _he chided himself, _you need to focus on the here and now. _

Hermione, who couldn't sit still much longer, started pacing about in anticipation. Neville started wringing his hands, shooting nervous glances at the door. Ron was staring at the ground, fidgeting uneasily. Ginny was staring at the wall opposite her, mouthing something. Harry suspected that she was going over the plan in her mind, trying to find any more flaws. Harry too was doing a last minute check. Luna was sitting in the corner, showing no signs of nervousness. She was staring off into space again as usual.

_Well at least one of us is calm, _Harry thought.

The noise in the Hall was suddenly silenced. Dumbledore was now giving the announcement that a few exchange students had arrived.

Harry clenched his fists and readied himself for what was coming. A few tense moments passed and then…

The door opened a crack and Dumbledore stepped inside.

"We are ready for you now," he said calmly, opening the door wide.

Harry got up and walked towards the door, the others following in his wake. As he stepped out into the hall he suddenly became more aware of himself for some reason. Harry felt like he had when he had gotten Sorted by the Sorting Hat. He was aware of all the eyes that were on him and he couldn't help but feel uneasy. It wasn't the staring that made him edgy, he was used to that, it was the _people _staring at him.

All the faces he saw were those of his parents and their generation. He saw Sirius near the middle of the table. As Harry watched, his godfather's younger self gave signs of recognition. His eyes widened in surprise and his mouth dropped open; then he quickly nudged James and whispered in his ear.

_Uh oh, _Harry thought. _That isn't good. _

* * *

James Potter was waiting to enjoy a good lunch. He continued to talk in an undertone with Sirius about the full moon's exciting events. 

He and the rest of the Hall fell silent when Dumbledore got to his feet. This in itself was unusual, Dumbledore interrupting lunch for an announcement. Even more unusual was the message he had for the school.

"I have an announcement I wish to make," said the Headmaster, "A few exchange students I have been expecting have arrived to learn at Hogwarts."

There was an outbreak of murmuring at this, exchange students? No one could ever remember there being any _exchange students _at Hogwarts. These were the first ones heard of.

"I wonder what nationalities they are?" Remus whispered, leaning over the table to speak with James and Sirius.

"Who cares?" Sirius said indifferently, "As long as they speak our language well enough I'll be happy."

"Shh," came a voice along the table.

Dumbledore was waiting patiently for the whispering to subside. When he had everyone's attention again he said, "You are to treat these new students as you would any other student. They really are no different from you and deserve as much respect as any of you. Now, I will go and fetch them."

James watched as Dumbledore left the staff table and opened a door behind him. He said a few words into the room and opened the door wide.

Out came a small group of teenagers about James' age. There were six of them, and they all looked quite tired, evidently from their trip. They walked nervously to the front of the staff table, and stood scanning the crowd before them. They all looked vaguely familiar, especially the blond boy in the front, but James couldn't place where he had seen them before.

Beside him, Sirius' mouth dropped open and he nudged James.

"What?" James whispered, leaning close so Sirius could whisper in his ear.

"It's _them_," said Sirius, not taking his eyes off the newcomers, "The ones who were in the Shack."

James blinked, trying to understand what his best friend had just said to him. It took only a moment for him to decipher the message and then he too was staring at the six new students.

_Of course, _he thought, _**That's** where I've seen them before. But how come the blond one looks more familiar than the rest?_

Then James noticed something else, none of the newcomers looked very foreign. James saw Remus frown as he too studied the exchange students.

"These are your new classmates," said Dumbledore, gesturing to the small group of foreigners. "They have arrived a bit late, due to issues around their homes, but are glad to be here at last. Let us give them a warm welcome."

And so the Hall did, except for the Slytherins of course. James looked across the tables at Snape. He was studying the new students as though they were a fairly intriguing book. Then he seemed to lose interest and stared at the ceiling instead.

_Don't worry, _James thought venomously, _They won't be hanging around **you**._

James made a mental note to get on the newcomers' good side before Snape did; these guys looked pretty descent and he didn't want them getting along with the wrong kind of group.

"This," Dumbledore said. James attention snapped back to him in an instant, "Is Harry Colbey." He gestured to the blond boy who had led the group in, "Hermione Granger," he indicated to a bushy haired girl who was looking around her a little apprehensively, "Ron Thomas," a tall, lanky, red haired boy was pointed out next, "Ginny Thomas," A fiery red-head who looked like she was Ron's younger sister, "Neville Horton," a short, stocky boy who resembled Peter, "and Luna Snorkack."

The name was strange, but the person was stranger. She was a blond girl who wore a necklace of butterbeer corks and a dreamy expression. Her orb-like eyes were protuberant and she had very faint eyebrows. Quite a curious character.

"They have already been sorted into Gryffindor," Dumbledore continued, "And will be taking classes with the sixth and seventh years."

He motioned for the exchange students to take a seat at the Gryffindor table. Another round of applause greeted the small group as Harry Colbey piloted them to the Gryffindor table.

James raised his hand to them, indicating to come and sit by them. His friends looked at him surprised, but said nothing.

Colbey faltered slightly, and looked around at his fellow exchange students. They all nodded slightly and Ginny Thomas gave him a little encouraging push.

James saw Colbey take a deep breath and make his way towards them, wounding his way between the seats of the tables.

* * *

Harry felt like a rabbit in headlights as he made his way to the front of the staff table. This was beyond weird, he was being stared at by his father who was about the same age as he was. It was odd to say the least. 

After Sirius had nudged his father, Harry saw James turn and stare at them with new interest.

Harry knew that Sirius must have recognized them from the experience in the Shrieking Shack the night before. Harry hoped nothing bad would come of it all.

Dumbledore introduced them each by their fake name and indicated for them to take their seats at the Gryffindor table. Harry started down to the table and was greeted by a polite applause.  
A hand came up out of the sea of people, motioning for him and his friends to come and sit by the waver.

Harry's heart gave a jolt as he saw who it was. Waving to him across the hall, asking him to come sit by him, was his father.

Harry stopped short and looked around at the others. They were a little uneasy as well, but nodded. Ginny even gave him a little push for encouragement. Harry took a deep breath and stumbled across the many seats to his future father.

The Marauders all greeted them with beaming smiles as they took their seats beside them.

"Hello," the seventeen year old Lupin said, "I'm Remus Lupin," he held out his hand, smiling broadly at Harry.

"Nice to meet you," said Harry, taking Lupin's hand, "I'm Harry, Harry P—Colbey."

Remus frowned a little, but otherwise seemed overlooked Harry's near slip. Fortunately, James and the rest of the Marauders hadn't seemed to notice.

_Smooth move Harry, _Harry scolded himself, _You almost blew it. _

The others shook hands with Lupin too, but without any more mishaps. James, Sirius, and Peter introduced themselves as well.

Harry and his friends exchange warm greetings with them, and then settled down to have lunch.

Food magically appeared on the table, loading it down with sandwiches and shepherd's pie.

Ron's face lit up with appreciation. Harry smiled. He knew how his friend felt. They had not had a proper meal in a long time, sure Hermione was a good cook and all but she couldn't compete with house elves.

Ginny saw his expression and laughed, reaching across him to load her plate with a couple of ham sandwiches.

Hermione on the other hand was still looking around the hall, that anxious expression never left her face. She absentmindedly poured herself some pumpkin juice and stirred it with her fork. When she came to her senses and realized what she was doing, she blushed uncontrollably and set the fork down.

_She'll be alright, _Harry told himself, _We just need to get used to this that's all. _

"So Harry," James said. Harry jumped slightly at being addressed and riveted his attention on his father, "What's your favorite class?"

Harry swallowed a cheese sandwich and answered, "Defense Against the Dark Arts."

James' eyebrows rose slightly. Then he said, "Well, you're in luck it's our next class. But you better not get paired up with me," he grinned a little, "I'm liable to jinx you."

Harry chuckled a little. He knew only too well what his father would do, but he would have to out draw Harry first.

"Ron Thomas?" Pettigrew said interestedly, leaning across the table to face Ron, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Sean Thomas?"

"Who?" Ron said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Sean Thomas," Pettigrew squeaked, pointing out a dark-haired Gryffindor.

Ron choked and spat out his pumpkin juice, staring at the stranger in surprise. He looked almost exactly like Dean!

Hermione saw too and hurriedly kicked Ron under the table. Ron faked a coughing fit and said, "Sorry—juice went down my air tube—"

Pettigrew fell for it and gave him a pitying look. Sirius however was not totally convinced.

"Well are you?" he asked a little aggressively, subtleness was not his high point but he suspected Ron was hiding something.

"No," Ron said quickly, "But he does look _kind of _familiar."

"Hmm…" said Sirius, looking Ron over.

"So what is your favorite subject?" Harry asked as though it didn't matter. But really he was desperate to steer the subject from dangerous waters.

"I don't know," Sirius said, turning to Harry, "Transfiguration I suppose."

Harry grinned a little, no surprise there. He quickly hid the grin and continued to make conversation with the Marauders.

"What's after Defense?" he asked, this time to Lupin, "I don't have a schedule."

"Nothing," said Lupin, "For us anyway, I don't know about you guys."

Harry frowned, he and the others had told Dumbledore what classes they had been taking at Hogwarts in their time, but had yet to get a schedule.

"Don't worry," Hermione said to him, reading his mind, "Today will be confusing, but I'm sure they'll get us schedules by the end of the day."

James looked at his watch.

"Well," he said, getting up, "I'm off to Defense, I suppose you'll be coming with us?"

He looked at Harry and his friends questioningly.

"I _think _we are," said Hermione uncertainly, "Let me go ask Professor Dumbledore."

She got up and sped off to the staff table. Harry watched as she leaned over the table and spoke to Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

Harry saw Hermione smile too and make her way back towards them.

"He says we can go to any class we want for the rest of the day," she said, relaying the information, "We'll receive our schedules at dinner tonight."

Ron grinned, "Okay, Dark Arts for me then."

Everyone else agreed except for Hermione who was torn between Arithmacy and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"We should stick together for now," Harry whispered to her.

"Well…" Hermione said, "Oh, alright."

And they started up the staircase, Harry in the lead.

"Hey Harry?" James asked, walking behind him, "How do you know the way to the class room?"

Harry stopped dead, cursing himself for his carelessness and trying to formulate a lie.

"I—uh," he said, stumbling over his words, "Dumbledore—er—," then he had it, "Dumbledore gave us a small tour of the school earlier this summer," he fibbed.

Harry could tell that Hermione almost sighed with relief.

"Oh," said James, overlooking Harry's first jumbled sentence.

Harry turned down a wrong corridor on purpose after that to make it look like he had forgotten the way.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, "The class room is down here," he pointed to the left.

"Oh," Harry said, trying to look confused, "sorry, I forgot the way. Perhaps you should lead?" He stepped aside and made way for Sirius to take the front.

Sirius shrugged and stepped in front of him, guiding them through the next few corridors. Harry looked back and saw Lupin watching him suspiciously. Harry quickly turned back to the front and continued up the corridor.

They came to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class room door and Harry suddenly wondered, _who's the Dark Arts teacher? _

Dumbledore had said that after he had denied the post to Voldemort they hadn't been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year. Harry suspected that this was just after the fact because it was right before the war.

As he stepped into the room he noticed at once the stranger who seemed to be a teacher. He was tall and thin with an elongated face. He had curly, dark brown hair that matched the color of his warm, chocolate eyes. There was something about the eyes though, they were warm, but sharp and stern at the same time. He seemed friendly enough, he smiled at Harry as he stepped through the door and came over to introduce himself.

"Good day Mr. Colbey," he said, extending his hand which Harry took, "I'm Professor Smithywick, and I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Ron entered the class room after Harry and was likewise greeted, as were Neville and Hermione. Ginny and Luna had gone to Charms with the other people who were _supposedly _their age.

The four friends took seats at the back of the class, being careful not to direct attention to themselves. Hermione sat down uncertainly at a desk beside Ron, she still thought this wasn't a good idea; but they couldn't stop now.

* * *

James felt quite cocky, as he took a desk near the back of the class next to the exchange students. He, unlike them, knew what they were doing in class today; and he was one of the best in the class. 

"Now," said Professor Smithywick, taking his place in front of the class, "For those of you who don't know," he smiled warmly at the exchange students, who were looking a little nervous, especially Hermione, "we have been dueling with spells for the past week or so. You may participate if you like, or you may just watch."

James glanced at the group out of the corner of his eye and noticed that they were all had surprised expressions on their faces.

James grinned to himself, they would be even more surprised when they saw what he could do.

"I will ask you all to move your desks to the side so we have a nice big space in the middle of the room," instructed the Professor.

There was an instant scraping of chairs as the class did as they were told. James smiled broadly at Harry and pushed his desk to the wall behind him. Harry grinned back, with a look in his eye that James couldn't quite place.

James blinked, unnerved. He had just realized what the look was, it was a _knowing _look. James shook himself, he must be hallucinating.

Professor Smithywick went around breaking them into pairs. Harry and the rest of the exchange students joined the class instead of sitting aside.

James, watched them with interest. They seemed eager to jump in, but they hadn't met the jinxing master James Potter yet.

James watched as the class was paired. Hermione was paired with Lily, and Neville was paired with Alice. Ron got Snape and James couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Snape was almost as good as James was, but better Thomas than Lily.

Remus, and Peter were paired up as well, and James was left with Harry. But Sirius stood on the sidelines, partner less.

James smiled coyly at his partner.

"Didn't I tell you not to get paired up with me?" he asked arrogantly, watching Harry's reaction.

He was surprised to see Harry smile, that annoying look on his face.

"Oh well," Harry said, fixing James with an amused gaze.

James smiled back, not letting that look get to him. Harry was just trying to scare him, well, it wasn't working.

"Wands at the ready!" Professor Smithywick said.

James whipped out his wand, ready for action, Harry did the same.

James grinned at his partner.

"Good luck," he said to Harry.

"You too," was the reply.

"One…" said Professor Smithywick, starting the countdown, "Two…three!"

James swung his hand around, attempting to send a spell at his dueling partner, only to realize that his wand had flown out of his hand.

But James didn't let that get to him. He saw his wand land to his left and dove for it. But before he could get it the wand rose into the air and sped towards Harry, who caught it with a deft movement of his hands.

James stared at his opponent, amazed. He had never seen reflexes like that, Harry had drawn his wand in a manner of milliseconds and disarmed him. He looked around, over to Sirius.

His friend was staring at Colbey in awe, as though he couldn't believe what he had just seen.

James felt, a little let down. The blow to his pride had been immense, someone, a new kid, had bested him in a duel in front of the whole class.

James looked around at the other pairs, more for something to get his mind off his thoughts than in concern. To his dismay he saw Lily on the floor in a full body bind. Alice was no better, and was sprawled on the floor stunned.

Remus had been victorious over his adversary, who was leaning on a desk, trying to make his legs move. Peter on the other hand was getting up from the floor, sporting a black and blue eye. It seemed the Slytherin he had been fighting had forgotten all magic and punched him.

But, to James' delight, Snape was on the floor, unconscious, a triumphant Ron standing over him.

James noticed Harry standing over him, grinning sheepishly and holding out his hand. James took it grudgingly, but then smiled.

"So you got me eh?" he said, grinning at Harry with new significance.

Harry shrugged.

"I suppose," he said, grinning back.

Now we must switch to Sirius' point of view, because it gives a more detailed account of the duels at hand.

* * *

When Sirius saw that Harry Colbey had been paired up with James, he felt a little regret. Harry would have no warning of James' talents and would likely end up on the floor with a squid for a face. 

Sirius had to admit, he was very proud of his friend's jinxing ability. James could take out any person who stood in his way, definitely.

He looked around the room at the other pairs. Ron Thomas was paired up with Snape…too bad, Snape would make short work with him. But as Ron was paired up with Snape, Sirius thought he saw Ron shoot a mischievous glance at Harry. Sirius remotely saw Harry return the look with a nod.

"One…" Professor Smithywick said slowly. Sirius focused his attention on the duels that were about to being around the room, "Two…" Sirius got ready, watching in excitement, "_Three_!"

It happened so fast that Sirius only just saw it. Harry Colbey whipped his wand around with such reflexes that his hand was a blur.

James, to Sirius' disappointment, had not realized he had been disarmed until about a second later. James dove for his wand that had gone to the floor, but Colbey was too quick for him; he performed a summoning charm and James' wand zoomed into his hand.

Sirius' mouth dropped open. No one, _no one_ had _ever_ disarmed James Potter.

As Sirius got over his shock he noticed that Harry was not the only newcomer to be triumphant. Hermione Granger, Neville Horton, and Ron Thomas were _all _standing triumphantly over their opponents.

Lily had been put into a full body bind, and Alice was on the floor, stunned. The only happy sight was Snape on the floor unconscious.

Sirius tore his gaze from the pair and looked around for Remus and Peter, wondering if they had noticed the happenings.

Remus was waiting patiently while his adversary lifted the curse Remus had put on him. Peter on the other hand was pushing himself off the floor while his rival rolled around the floor, laughing with mirth.

Sirius frowned and was about to jinx the big gorilla when Professor Smithywick started clapping.

The Gryffindors in the class joined in politely, all were watching the new comers.

"Well done," Professor Smithywick said, "Well done! Well folks, I think our newcomers have proven their skill. Who would like to see a duel between a few of them?"

The class roared its approval.

Sirius saw Harry give Hermione, Ron and Neville a fleeting glance and they got into a tight circle, planning.

Sirius heard someone say, "Yes you are," and then there was whispering.

* * *

Harry felt strange again. He had disarmed his father, who was sitting on the floor staring past him to Sirius. Harry looked around the room, feeling slightly disappointed. It had been too easy to disarm James, no challenge what so ever. 

It was quite boring, watching the other pairs fight. Ron disposed of Snape easily, while Neville wore a very guilty look on his face, standing over his future mother.

Harry grinned, at least he hadn't had to fight his mother, Hermione had been chosen to do that.

Harry looked around for Hermione, expecting to see her standing. Sure enough, there she was, standing over Lily, who was in a full body bind.

Harry sighed and looked back around at his father. James was staring around the room too, his gaze fell on Lily and his eyes widened a fraction. Harry chuckled to himself and bent down to help James up.

Harry knew his father's feelings for his mother. Sometime this year they were supposed to get together, but Harry didn't know when.

James' head turned and he saw Harry's hand. He bit his lip and took it, though a little grudgingly.

Harry didn't blame him. He was sure no one had ever beaten his father in a duel before, the blow to his pride must hurt.

James stared at the floor for a moment and then looked at Harry, grinning.

"So you got me eh?" he said, a twinkle of…wait a minute…was that—_respect _in his father's eyes?

"Yeah," said Harry, feeling a little taken aback, "I suppose."

Then Harry heard clapping, he turned to see Professor Smithywick bringing his hands together in the praising gesture.

The class followed his example and started applauding the winners of the duels; though, only the Gryffindors did it.

"Well done," said Smithywick, "Well done! Well folks, I think our newcomers have proven their skill. Who would like to see a duel between a few of them?"

The Gryffindors, all cried "Yes!" or else "Yeah!". Harry glanced at the others; they were all looking at him expectantly.

He motioned them to come over to him. They did and formed a small circle.

"Who wants to go?" Ron asked as soon as they were all huddled together.

"We should have Hermione and Harry," said Neville, "They're the best."

Harry felt his face go slightly red.

"No we're—" he started but Ron cut him off.

"Yes you are," he said, looking a little annoyed, "Stop being so modest."

Harry sighed and looked at Hermione.

"Ready?" he asked.

For an answer, Hermione grinned and took out her wand. Then she paused, looking at him uncertainly.

"I don't think we should show them _all _we can do," she said, nodding towards the class clustered against the wall.

Harry nodded.

"Right," he said, "Better to have an advantage." Ron and Neville agreed and then stepped back, joining the class by the wall.

Ron leaned over a desk, getting in a good position to watch. Neville did the same, with a critical expression on his face; it looked like he was going to learn anything he could from their duel. The Marauders all leaned forward, intrigued looks on their faces. They too seemed interested in how this duel was going to turn out.

Harry bit back a laugh and drew his wand, looking at Hermione for the starting signal.

Hermione took a deep breath—then nodded.

Harry immediately moved from the spot where he was standing and sent a stunning spell at her.

Hermione deflected the spell and sent one of her own. Harry summoned one of the books from the shelves and made it block for him.

But Hermione wasn't done there; she flourished her wand and sent another spell at him in a flash.

Harry ducked and an orb on a shelf behind him smashed. Following his instinct, Harry ran a few steps to the right and jumped behind the teacher's desk.

Hermione crept forward, wand raised, searching for him. Harry stooped and stealthily went around the other side of the desk, getting in position.

When he was directly behind her he thought.

_Expelliarmus!_

A jet of red light flew at Hermione from behind. She whirled around instantly and deflected it.

Harry jumped back as Hermione sent her own disarming spell at him and pointed his wand under the desk, thinking the incantation for the Jelly-Legs Jinx.

Finally, someone had gotten the other; his hex hit Hermione below the waist and her legs started to wobble.

Harry leapt out from behind the desk, aiming another disarming charm at her. But she had already performed the counter curse for the Jelly-Legs Jinx and had sent a stunning spell at him.

The two spells met in mid-air and made a small explosion.

_BOOM!_

The sound reverberated through the room, and the impact of the spells threw both competitors against opposite sides of the walls. Hermione slid over a desk and onto the floor, gasping,

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Harry's wand flew out of his hand. Knowing that Hermione would summon it as soon as she could, he jumped up and made a grab for it, being narrowly missed by a stunning spell.

Harry caught his wand and pointed it at Hermione with lightning fast movements.

"_Stupefy!_" he cried. Hermione had not expected him to catch his wand, and was taken off guard. The spell hit her in the chest and she slid to the floor, an astonished look on her face.

Harry quickly ran over to her and pointed his wand at her again.

"_Ennervate," _he muttered.

Hermione woke up immediately, staring up at Harry, looking a little dazed.

"Nice one," she said softly, making to get up.

Harry grinned and took her arm, helping her up. The rest of the class was looking at them as if they had been stunned as well. And then…

Thunderous applause rang through the room, canceling out every other sound. Hermione smiled sheepishly and looked at Harry, who smiled too, laughed.

The rest of the hour was spent watching duels of the other students, but none of them were up to Harry and Hermione's standard.

When the bell rang, everyone rushed to their desks and collected their books; all except Neville, Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who didn't have any supplies yet.

"Well done!" Professor Smithywick declared as they all left the room, "For homework, practice incantations but do _not _duel in the Hogwarts grounds."

The class filed out of the room, talking about the exhilarating fight between two of the talented new students.

Ron and Neville caught up with them outside the class room, wide grins on their faces.

"You're a hit!" Ron said, watching a few girls go past, "Mind you, that was a pretty good show."

Neville nodded his agreement.

"You two did great," he said, "And that was only with _simple _spells. Think about what we could do with more advanced and complex spells!"

Suddenly Hermione got that look in her eye; the look that had started S.P.E.W. and the D.A.

"That was amazing!" Pettigrew cried hurrying up to them, James, Sirius, and Lupin close behind.

"Yeah," James said, grinning, "Splendid spell work there you two."

Hermione, who had been off in space (a habit worthy of Luna, but not often used by Hermione), came out of her thoughts and smiled at James.

"Right," she said, still a little distracted. Then she came back down to earth and was her normal self.

"What's the next class?" she asked eagerly, trying to look at the schedule Lupin held.

Lupin looked up and saw her attempts to see his timetable, he quickly handed it to her saying, "Double Transfiguration. If you want to go with us that is; Professor Dumbledore said you could go to whatever class you wanted."

Hermione looked thoughtful and then said glanced at the other three for confirmation. They seemed to like the idea so she said, "Right, Transfiguration it is."

She knew that they, like she, were ready to see if McGonagall was any different from this time to the next generation.

They soon found out however, that Minerva McGonagall, though slightly younger, was as stern as ever. She was the same teacher as she always was in any time: stern, fair and down to business.

At the beginning of class she swept down the rows of desks to Harry and the rest and gave them their schedules. Then, nodding to them, she started the class.

It was as difficult as ever, maybe even more so because they were learning the complicated art of conjuring.

Out of all the time-travelers, only Hermione was able to successfully conjure up her needle.

James and Sirius were just as brilliant at Transfiguration as Harry had ever been told. Only Hermione had conjured her needle up before them.

Harry soon became frustrated with how the class was going, but kept his emotions in check for once. He looked around and noticed that the rest of the class, aside from Hermione, James and Sirius, was having about as much luck as he was.

By the end of the double period, no one except James, Sirius, and Hermione had been able to do their appointed task. As a result, almost everyone was given conjuring practice as homework.

The next hour was vacant of classes, so they took what was supposedly the foursomes' second tour to 'refresh their memories'. During this time Harry got to know his father and his friends more thoroughly. They were everything he had been told about and more. Despite the fact that he had been told almost all his wizarding life that his father and Sirius had been hilarious troublemakers, it never felt quite real enough until he experienced it. He was told about countless schemes and practical jokes the Marauders had played on fellow students. They truly were the forerunners to the Weasley twins; though, Harry didn't think they could pull off an instant Swamp or a crate of exploding fireworks that exploded when you stunned them or multiplied by ten every time you tried to vanish them.

After the tour, they all started off to the Great Hall for dinner and met Ginny and Luna on the second floor.

"So how were your classes?" Harry asked them casually, wondering if the other teachers' personalities were at all different.

Ginny giggled a little.

"Same as ever," she said quietly so the James and his friends couldn't hear them, "Slughorn and Sprout are both little younger, but haven't changed in a few twenty-some years. Like in the future, Slughorn does have his favorites and Sprout loves her plants."

Harry rolled his eyes a little, not at Sprout but at Slughorn. The Professor was bent on capturing popular students and having them join his club, The Slug Club. Harry just hoped that in this time he wouldn't be singled out.

Luna stuck her head between them and said, "He is strange isn't he? Slughorn?"

Harry choked back a laugh, making a sound between a snort and a sneeze. Calling Slughorn weird when you had Luna Lovegood to compare with was a little too much.

James heard the noise Harry had made and looked around to see where it had come from. When he saw the three of them with their heads bent together, walking down the corridor he said, "What's the secret?"

"No secret," Harry said, and then motioned to Ginny and Luna, "These two were just telling me how their afternoon went."

"Oh," said James and turned to start a conversation with Sirius. Harry looked back and saw Lupin looking at him in that strange way again.

Harry swallowed. Had he heard? No, surely not, he would have said something. But he was getting a little suspicious all the same.

Harry shook himself. It would be alright, it was just the first day, after that all the suspicions would wash away…right?

* * *

What really was going on in Remus Lupin's mind was this. Remus had noticed that though it was supposedly only their second time in the castle, the six exchange students didn't seem at all impressed by the castle. If it had been him, Remus would have been in awe of the marvelous school; but these new students seemed almost…_bored_. Maybe he was imagining it, or maybe he wasn't; but Remus knew there was something strange about these individuals. They were always speaking in whispers as well and what about that incident with Sean Thomas? Ron Thomas had acted most peculiarly, why had he been so surprised about a person he had never known? Harry Colbey seemed to be the group's leader. What had he done to earn their trust and loyalty? Then there was the fact that they could duel so well. And there was another question that hadn't been answered too: why had they been in the Shrieking Shack on a full moon? 

So many questions were popping in and out of Remus' head that he almost couldn't stand them.

"Remus?" came James' voice from far away. Remus snapped to attention and focused himself on James.

"Coming?" asked James, looking back at him.

"Yeah," said Remus, still a little disconcerted, "yeah, I'm coming." He hurried to join his friends, half his mind still on Harry Colbey and his friends. They certainly were an odd crowd.

All throughout dinner Remus seemed to be distracted and James couldn't figure out why. Whenever questioned, he only said, "I'll talk to you later," and then glance quickly at Harry Colbey and his friends, who were immersed in a whispered conversation.

James was puzzled by his friend's odd behavior, but thought nothing of it after the first batch of food appeared on the table. As for Harry Colbey and his friends, James simply thought they were just talking about their wonderful first day at Hogwarts.

After a delicious dinner, all of them made their way up the many flights of stairs and through many corridors to the Gryffindor Tower, all the exchange students were yawning the whole way.

James didn't feel like doing homework and led the boys up to their dormitory. Hermione, Luna, and Ginny made for the girl's staircase, following Lily and Alice to their dormitory.

As he entered the seventh years' room, James noticed that three more beds had been set up, each had a trunk with necessary supplies, but no personal belongings, strange. But James, being James, overlooked this matter and showed Harry, Neville, and Ron to their beds.

"This is where you'll sleep," he said, waving his hand over the four-posters. Then he walked across the room to his own bed while the newcomers got settled.

He turned away from them and began to dig something out of his trunk.

"Anyone want to play some chess?" he asked to the room at large, turning back to the new students, only to find that all were asleep, fully clothed in their beds.

James grinned to himself.

_They're probably tired after traveling, classes, and that explosive tour of mine. _

He didn't know how right he was. After a few life threatening experiences, hardly any sleep, a few classes and a tour of a place as big as Hogwarts, _anyone _would be tired.

**A/N: ****And now…for the final chapter. After that, it's farewell, I'm afraid! **

**-EveningSongEnchantment **


	12. Chapter 12: Training

**A/N: Well! My last chapter. I hope everyone likes it. Again, I'm so _terribly_ sorry for leaving. But so many things are happening to me right now! **

**Disclaimer: This, my last chapter, does not belong to me. I followed J.K. Rowling's story-line as best I could and put my own two-cents in here and there. The places are hers, the characters are hers, everything belongs to her! Except for any strange characters or places you might have seen on this grand tour of my mind's imagination. I hope you all enjoy this one as much as you did all the others! **

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* * *

Chapter 12: ****Training **

Luna woke up to find herself in a four poster bed with light shining through the hangings. She sighed. She was back in her bed in Ravenclaw Tower, and those scaly creatures had only been a dream.

_Ah, _she thought, _What a beautiful morning. I wonder if the branemases are out yet? _

She opened her hangings and gasped, "What the—?"

Luna Lovegood was looking upon an unfamiliar circular room with seven four poster beds.

_I've been kidnapped by ramalitauses! _Was her first thought.

Then she took a second glance about the room and noticed that it was decorated with Gryffindor colors, not the usual silver and blue of Ravenclaw.

In the bed next to her she saw Ginny, fast asleep. It took a moment, but then Luna remembered where she was and why she was there.

Sighing with relief she sank back down into her pillows and mulled over what had happened in the past forty-eight hours. Now she remembered everything. The running away from Hogwarts; the horrible first night; the day in the orphanage; and the afternoon in the past.

Luna tilted her head a little and saw that Ginny was now awake and staring about the room without any surprise. She seemed to be scanning it for any possible danger or advantage…a strange habit, but not unwarranted after all they had been through.

"Good morning," said Luna presently.

Ginny turned to her and nodded silently. Then she pointed to the other people in the beds and whispered, "What do you make of them?"

Last night the two girls had met the five other Gryffindor sixth year girls. They were a strange lot of giggly girls. Their hair color ranged from bright blond to black.

One girl, the black haired one named Betty, seemed to always be the center of attention; while Emmiline (whom Ginny knew to be the past Emmiline Vance), was a quiet sort of person.

Ginny found it strange, sleeping next to a person who was supposed to be dead in the future. She had known Emmiline Vance briefly, but had respected her as a top member of the Order of the Phoenix.

"They are strange," said Luna, peering at the sleeping girls with interest, "but that may just be because they are actually supposed to be a generation older than us."

Ginny nodded her agreement. She couldn't get over how peaceful the atmosphere around Hogwarts was. When they had left the future, everybody was tense and agitated. Now, she had entered a time where the only high-strung times were when exams were drawing near. It was nice to relax, but Ginny almost missed the adventurous spirit of the future.

The two girls dressed into their new Hogwarts robes and left the room quietly. It was about seven o'clock on a Saturday morning, so not many people would be out and about.

As they descended the girl's staircase, the seventh year girl's door opened to reveal a nervous Hermione. She looked like a rabbit in headlights as she edged out of the room and closed the door quietly.

She still didn't like the idea of being in the past where so many things could impact the future. They had already drastically changed potential events and had violated almost every rule of time-travel. Hermione shivered as she thought of the implications that could have and the complications it could mean. _Could, if_…those had become very popular words recently.

"Morning," she said to Luna and Ginny quietly, tiptoeing down the corridor to them. Then she looked around to see if anyone would overhear her and said, "It is so strange sleeping in the same room with Harry's mum."

"I know," Ginny said in agreement, "We've got Emmiline Vance, except she isn't Emmiline _Vance _in this day and age."

"Who else is in there?" asked Luna curiously, gazing over her shoulder at the door.

"Two other girls, Harry's mum, and Alice Longbottom," Hermione replied, "Except her surname is McKinnon in this time."

"McKinnon?" Ginny asked, and then lowered her voice even more, "Weren't the McKinnons killed by—?"

"Yes," Hermione said softly, "They were one of the wizard families killed by Voldemort and his followers."

Ginny pursed her lips.

"I never knew," she said, glancing sorrowfully at the seventh year girl's dormitory door.

They left the hallway together and entered into the common room. They seemed to be the only ones awake.

Hermione thought the common room was empty until she saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. She quickly went for her wand, as did Ginny and Luna, but stopped herself.

She was being silly, what danger could there be in the Gryffindor common room at seven o'clock in the morning on a Saturday of 1978?

Hermione almost sighed with relief as she saw Ron's head poke out from behind a comfy armchair.

He smiled at the girls and motioned them to come over to the table where he had spread a few books out.

"Our supplies have come," he said, pushing a stack of books, quills, parchment, and other classroom necessities to Hermione.

Harry and Neville were there too, looking over the materials with slightly bored expressions, but were alert all the same. If the past few years had taught them anything, it was that you should be alert at all times; a habit that was hard to get out of.

Harry looked up and gave the girls a small smile, which was returned by three broad ones.

"Well," he said, looking around at all of them, "here we are. In the past."

"I don't think we should mention anything related to this time traveling business unless we're sure we're alone," whispered Hermione quickly, casting a wary gaze about the room, "The common room isn't secure enough."

"What about the Room of Requirement?" asked Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry.

Hermione smiled mischievously. Harry did a double take and saw the sparkle in her eyes that had been there when she had devised S.P.E.W. and the D.A. Oh boy, here it comes.

"I've been thinking," said Hermione, fingering her new quill absentmindedly, "we have just received the one thing we need most."

"And what's that?" asked Neville, leaning forward, clearly intrigued.

"Time," answered Hermione, "we have just been given more time. Why don't we use it to train ourselves for…" she looked around the room cautiously, "for the horcruxes?"

Harry sat up straighter, anticipating another plan.

"And?" he urged her.

"And," she said, "We could use the room of requirement to look up spells and enchantments. Not spells that we had learned in the D.A., complicated ones," she looked around at them all and went on, "We're all in our final years of education and can do more than we could a few years ago. Those spells Harry taught us will help, but we need ones that will thwart Voldemort's" here Neville shivered slightly at the sound of the name, but didn't say anything, "horcruxes and what guards them. We're in seventh year now and have more access to materials we never would have dreamed of in even fifth year!"

"So you're saying that we just sneak around Hogwarts in the past and duel?" asked Harry.

Hermione shook her head.

"That's not what I meant," she said impatiently, "We should duel in the Room of Requirement of course. And I don't just want us to go to the Room of Requirement," she looked around at them all once again and took a deep breath, "Why don't we do it in the Forbidden Forest?"

Everyone was silent, staring at Hermione in surprise. It was not like her to suggest things like this, but then again, she was in that mood.

"Are you serious?" asked Harry incredulously.

Hermione nodded and then explained, "In the forest we could do flying maneuvers, dueling, and all sorts of things! And, when we're ready, why don't we just go to the heart of the forest and see what we encounter? Nothing in there could be worse then what we've experienced with the horcruxes so far."

Harry looked doubtful, but thoughtful nonetheless. He leaned back in his chair and thought of the possibilities.

They had faced a lot since the beginning of the year. Time travel hadn't been on his list of things to do, but all the same Hermione was right; it gave them precious time to more sufficiently ready themselves for the tasks ahead.

"Right," he said, looking from one person to the other, feeling energy rise up inside him, "Let's do it. It can't be anything worse than what we've already done."

The others made noises of agreement and sat back in their chairs, all thinking about what they were going to do.

Harry found himself already planning training tactics. There would be evasive maneuvers on brooms with a few people attacking and a few people defending. They could…the thoughts went on and on.

Hermione's idea was brilliant and they decided to refer to it from now on as "Training".

As he was thinking of all the spells he could find in the Restricted Section of the library he heard a door close at the top of the boy's dormitory staircase. He and the others quickly snapped out of their daydreams and acted like they were doing homework.

"You're all doing homework?" cried a voice from the top of the stairs, "On a day like this?"

Harry looked up to see James was at the top of the staircase, looking as though he hadn't a care in the world. Behind him the rest of the Marauders were filing down the stairs as well.

"You can't get it done too early," said Hermione superiorly, "If you leave it till later you'll end up with a giant work load."

James made an indifferent gesture and motioned towards the window.

"Have it your way," he said, "but we'll be on the grounds enjoying the sunshine if you don't mind."

"Really," came a disapproving voice from behind them. Everyone turned to see Lilly Potter…Evans, at the top of the stairs with her hands on her hips, "I don't know how you get through all your homework James Potter, but you certainly procrastinate enough! I really have no idea why Dumbledore chose you to be Head Boy!"

It was then that Harry noticed James had on a gold Hogwarts badge. On it were the letters H.B. Harry had seen one before on Ron's brother Percy when he was at Hogwarts so he recognized it as a Head Boy badge.

James jumped as though he had received an electric shock.

"Why," he said, turning to Lily and throwing her a charming smile, "I just have the right genius for homework lovely Evans."

The charming smile had no effect whatsoever on Lily Evans. She gave a sarcastic laugh and scoffed, "If brilliance came in gold you'd be pretty poor Potter. You keep trying to court me as if I were some brainless girl who had nothing better to do than swoon over you. If you had any _genius_ you'd stop harassing me, do away with the cocky attitude and be a proper man."

Harry nearly winced as he heard the comments his mother made about his father. He could hardly understand why she married him if she had hated him so much, or was this all an act?

She kind of reminded him of Hermione. She was smart, cared about homework and even had the same expression on her face that Hermione had when Harry and Ron neglected their homework. But she was also a very stubborn girl with a red-headed temper like Ginny and a big vocabulary which she used not to show off, but to abuse James Potter with. She also seemed to be a by-the-books person like Hermione had been when Harry had first met her. But Hermione had mellowed out a bit and was not quite so fearful of breaking rules.

"Evans I—" James started, but before he could say anything else, Lily Evans strode briskly out of sight back into the girl's dormitories.

Harry tried not to stare and turned back to his books, pretending as though he hadn't heard a word of the conversation. The others followed his lead and bent quickly over their homework.

Sirius shook his head and said, "Bad luck Prongs. You should really concentrate on another girl; there are plenty of them you know that would gladly go out with you."

"But none of them are quite like Evans!" James said, "She has…a certain quality about her."

Hermione gave a short little laugh at his choice of words and covered it up with a small cough. Ginny dropped her quill under the table and bent to retrieve it so she could hide the smile that was blooming across her face.

Ron stared determinedly at the page in his book, his eyes not moving. While Neville seemed to be trying to ignore the fact that he was actually overhearing Harry's dad making comments about Harry's mum.

Harry flipped the page so he wasn't quite so conspicuous and Luna just stared at James in that way of hers.

"She really doesn't like you does she?" asked Luna, still staring at James.

Harry felt like smacking himself with his Transfiguration book. This was not the time for Luna to display her embarrassing honesty!

James stared at her in amazement, not expecting anyone to say such a thing to a guy who had just been let down.

Silence reigned.

Ginny emerged from under the table and theatrically on accident knocked a few books over to cover up the awkward moment.

Everyone snapped back to their senses and looked away from each other. Harry almost grinned. Luna's words had an effect like that, but never had there been a moment quite like _that_.

James finally recovered and left the room without a word, following his beloved Lily out through the portrait hole and down to breakfast; the rest of the Marauders following along in his wake.

As soon as they were gone Hermione sighed exasperatedly and was about to berate Luna when the door to the upstairs girl's dormitories opened again. Out emerged a plump seventh year witch with a round face and long blond hair.

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat and everyone nearly gasped to see Neville's mother standing at the top of the stairs. But they held back their surprise and didn't let it register on their faces.

Alice Longbottom—McKinnon, looked down on them warmly, a dimpled smile spreading across her round face.

"Hello," she greeted the group, walking down the stairs towards them, "You must be the transfer students. I'm Alice McKinnon, seventh year."

She looked at Hermione.

"I've already met you," she said and turned to the others, "And who might you be?"

They quickly introduced themselves, using their false names. Neville almost stuttered his name, but kept calm.

"Wonderful," said Alice when the introductions had been made, "Have you seen Lily? She must be down at breakfast." She nodded to them and started for the portrait hole.

"It was nice meeting you all!" she called back over her shoulder and the portrait hole closed.

A collective sigh ran throughout the six friends. That, along with all else that had happened had come as a shock. Neville was as white as a sheet and leaning back in his armchair, breathing heavily. All the rest were avoiding each other's eyes.

After a few minutes everyone's heart beat gradually turned to normal and they began to stare at one another instead of at the floor.

"I think we should get out of here before we meet anymore unpleasant surprises," said Hermione softly.

Everyone except for Neville nodded and rose. Ginny walked over to their shaken friend and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it later?" she asked, her eyes shinning with pity.

Neville mutely shook his head and stood up, trembling slightly. Then, avoiding everyone's gaze he blinked and asked, "What now?"

They seemed to have been asking that question a lot lately, but Harry answered, "Act as if everything was normal and try not to be conspicuous."

The six of them started off for the Great Hall in a sedated manner, not talking about anything that had happened; they'd save that for when they were alone in the Room of Requirement.

Ginny slid her hand into Harry's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He smiled back and held her hand as they walked ahead of the others.

As they made their way down the Fat Lady's corridor, a crowd of Gryffindors erupted from the portrait hole, chatting and socializing merrily.

* * *

James sat down in the middle of the Gryffindor table, feeling slightly put-out. He had failed yet again to capture the beautiful and bright Lily Evans. Would he ever receive her affection?

_Yes, _he told himself determinedly, _I **will **win her if I have to go to the ends of the earth to do it. _

"Cheer up James," squeaked Peter, offering him a platter of bacon, "You'll get her someday."

"But when?" sighed impatient James, "I've been trying for countless years, showing her my compassion for her."

"Maybe you shouldn't try such a direct approach," said Remus, frowning.

James looked up at his friend. He knew Remus didn't exactly take to girls, but he never been irritable like this when the subject came up.

"What's the matter Moony?" asked Sirius cheerfully, lightly punching his friend on the shoulder.

James remembered something Remus had said last night about the new students.

"Yeah," he said, "And while you're at it, inform us on what you never got around to telling us last night."

Remus took a quick look around to make sure no one was listening to them talk. Strange.

Then he leaned across the table and motioned for everyone to come a little closer. Curious, the others brought their heads closer, all ears.

"It's just…" he took another look around, "It's just that they seem all too familiar with Hogwarts."

James laughed and leaned back in his chair. So _that's _what Moony was worried about.

"Dumbledore gave them a tour Remus!" he said, twirling his fork around in his fingers.

"But could you navigate all throughout Hogwarts after only _one _tour?" argued Remus.

"They didn't seem to know it that well," said Peter and then pointed out, "Harry got lost on the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"He did it on purpose," said Remus huffily and crossed his arms over his chest. Then added as an afterthought, "Did you see the way he looked around the common room when he first went in?"

The others shook their heads. Remus sighed. They were so unobservant.

"He looked around almost…bored."

James dismissed the information with a wave of his hand and scanned the hall for Lily. Sirius lost interest as well and resumed eating his scrambled eggs. Peter, the natural follower, did the same while sending anxious glances across the table at Remus. He seemed to think Remus was imagining things; probably still tired from the full moon.

As Remus, frustrated with his friends' behavior took a sip of pumpkin juice he happened to glance towards the Great Hall doors.

In entered the aforementioned students. Harry, holding Ginny Thomas' hand and walking down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.

He wasn't the only one who had noticed. Many people were staring at them as well. As the exchange students made their way down to the middle of the Gryffindor table many heads turned. Eventually, nearly everyone in the hall was staring. Harry seemed to ignore the staring students and sat down near James. His friends sat down a little more nervously.

As they sat down, whispered conversation erupted throughout the hall. Evidently someone had blabbed about the eventful seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. And, as always, word traveled fast within the halls of Hogwarts.

James started to think about what Remus had said but his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Lily! There you are," a voice called down the table.

James turned to see Alice , Lily's best friend striding down towards her. James thought Alice was an okay girl, but never as witty or attractive as Lily.

Distracted by his thoughts about his lovely Lily, James fortunately forgot all about Harry and his friends.

Harry entered the Great Hall, still hand in hand with Ginny. As they came in, he noticed the familiar feeling of everyone's eyes on him. People's heads turned as he and his friends passed by them; everyone was staring.

Harry was so used to it now that he ignored it. The others though, were a little unsettled. They didn't get this treatment as often as Harry did. Together they all sat down near James and the rest of the Marauders. As they did, conversation broke out amongst the students.

Obviously word of the events of their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the past had gotten out. And, just as in the future, word traveled fast around Hogwarts. That was something normal at least.

He looked beside him to find Ginny smiling knowingly at him. She knew what he was thinking. Harry slung his arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him, whispering, "Some things don't ever change."

She nodded her agreement and settled down to eat. Neville passed a platter off toast towards them and shakily took up a knife to butter his own piece.

James leaned over Sirius and asked them, "What are you lot going to do today?"

Harry chewed his toast and thought. He had wanted to start Training, but they had to keep James preoccupied first.

So, Harry shrugged and said, "You know, the usual. Just homework and probably explore a little of Hogwarts."

James grinned and whispered, "Homework? Come on, have some fun! We'll show you the Quidditch pitch, ever played?"

Harry sat back, thinking back to the days he had played for Gryffindor's Quidditch team on the pitch.

"A little," was all he said.

"Great! You'll come?"

"Sure."

And so it was settled. When they had finished eating, the Marauders and Time-Travelers set off to the Quidditch pitch. But before they made it to the entrance hall a voice called out from behind them.

"Hermione!"

The group turned to see Lily striding towards them, Alice close behind.

"Want to come to the library with us?" she asked, "I couldn't help but overhear Potter here saying he was going to take you to the Quidditch pitch. There's nothing more dull really, why not get some work done?"

Hermione considered. She could get to know Harry's mother better or proceed with rest of the Quidditch pitch which see had seen a dozen times over already.

_No_, she told herself, _you're already messing with the past, don't make it worse by befriending the mothers of two of your friends. _

But the first option sounded more appealing. They _were_ stuck here in the past for a while, what could it hurt? Despite her own warnings, Hermione chose to go with her first choice.

"Coming," she said, waving to the others as she skipped off. Ginny looked at her as though she were mad to pass up an opportunity to be outside and read text books instead. But Hermione's mind was made up. It would be more interesting anyway, getting to know Neville and Harry's mothers.

* * *

In the library, Hermione opened her copy of Advanced Transfiguration and quietly observed Lily and Alice; keeping track of the conversation and trying to learn more about them. But they didn't seem to be interested in anything other than homework at the moment. She was really beginning to like these two.

"Shall we start with Transfiguration then?" asked Alice, peering at the book Hermione had picked up.

Hermione looked up from the line she was reading on conjuring methods and looked at Lily.

"Sure," Lily said with a shrug, "Why not?"

She too took out her Transfiguration text book and opened it to page fifty-five. They sat quietly for a while, concentrating on their work.

They soon finished their Transfiguration and moved on to Defense Against the Dark Arts and chatting quietly about random topics.

"So where did you say you went to school before this?" Lily asked bending down to take another book out of her bag.

Uh-oh, this conversation was getting a little uncomfortable.

"Oh," Hermione said, slightly taken aback. She had been waiting for these kinds of questions and was fully prepared to meet them; but now that they had been asked she felt a little awkward. She gave herself a mental shake and got her act together.

"You know," she said off-handedly, reaching across the table for her ink bottle, "Just around. We've been all over the place, me and my friends. One time we were in France."

"When did you hear about Hogwarts? You seem to know a lot about it," Alice commented.

Not good. Things were going from bad to worse. Not knowing what else to do Hermione shrugged and steered the conversation out of dangerous waters.

"You just pick things up. Have you two ever been to France? Ever tried their delicious homemade éclairs?"

They continued to talk about foreign countries as they packed up and left the library.

Hermione almost sighed with relief. This was easier than she had thought; once you get away from certain touchy subjects anyway. She began to wonder how the others were doing.

* * *

Harry watched as Hermione left them to go to the library with Lily and Alice. He had thought that Hermione didn't like the idea of splitting up. But then again, they had to act normal didn't they? If this was what you called normal.

"So, Harry," James said, bringing Harry's attention back on him, "Exactly how good are you?"

They continued to walk through the entrance hall and out onto the grounds, talking about Quidditch. Harry and the others carefully avoided giving too much personal information whenever they could. They had decided to be a little cautious; otherwise they might let something about the future slip.

As they trudged up the path to the Quidditch pitch, Harry looked about the grounds with no particular interest. Everything was pretty much the same as in the future. The trees didn't look much younger and neither did the castle itself; they were just too old to have a few twenty years or so make a difference.

"That's the Whomping Willow," James was saying, "And this is…" he was again playing tour guide. And he seemed to be enjoying too, judging by the great smile on his face. It would seem as though he liked showing off where he lived and how much he knew about it.

Ron spared a "whoa" when he mentioned the Whompings Willow's abilities just so the Marauders wouldn't get suspicious, but didn't put much enthusiasm in it.

It also seemed that he liked showing off his abilities. Once they got to the pitch he got himself a broom and kicked off. Then he proceeded to shoot a few magnificent goals for the on-lookers.

James Potter was as good at being a chaser as Harry had ever heard. Though he hadn't seen his father in a game yet, he couldn't help but notice that he had a certain style about him. Harry too had skill on the Quidditch field; it came natural to him. Now watching James, Harry couldn't help but see the certain similarities between him and his father.

Ginny anxious to be in the air playing instead of just watching, but didn't say anything. Harry knew she was anxious to be on a broom, he was too for that matter, but it would probably best if they stayed low and not reveal too much about themselves just yet. Hermione of course didn't want them to reveal _anything_, but it couldn't be helped.

Remus seemed to notice their agitation and said they could use the school brooms to go up there if they wanted. They politely declined and turned back to watch James.

Little did they all know that Remus Lupin was keeping an eye on them and putting every detail he could get together into a mental picture.

* * *

After telling his friends his suspicions and having them shunted aside, Remus kept quiet and didn't say another word. Instead he watched James as he ranted off how wonderful Hogwarts was.

But Harry and his friends, Remus noticed, didn't seem very interested in the scenery. On the contrary, they seemed yet again to be bored with their surroundings and didn't even give the Whomping Willow a second glance.

Ron Thomas gave a little enthusiastic praise by saying "whoa" but that was it. No exclamation of surprise at the strange and violent nature of the tree, no comments on how they wouldn't want to get too close to that kind of plant, no, nothing.

Remus was starting to get a little disturbed at the ever lingering presence of suspicion on his mind. It pressed in on him every time he got close to starting to like the newcomers.

Then Remus noticed something else about Harry. He had just happened to glance at Harry's forehead as the wind swept his bands back. There, right between Harry Colbey's eyes, was a curious mark.

Remus looked closer and saw that it was lightning-bolt shaped scar. It was quite unlike anything he had ever seen before. Remus frowned slightly, wondering how the strange mark came to be on its owner's forehead, but didn't say anything.

As they made their way up into the stands to watch as James throw a few Quaffles, Remus couldn't help but see Ginny look up longingly at the air as if she wished she could be up there too.

Remus naturally proposed they take a broom from the school broom cupboard and go up, but they turned down the offer. Remus was liking this less and less. If they wanted to go up then why didn't they just do it when the chance arrived? They seemed to be getting more mysterious by the hour.

* * *

By late afternoon studying and touring a place they already knew was getting old. So the six friends told their new friends that they were going to go to the common room to do homework. Lily and Alice accepted their decision but James on the other hand…

"Why? We've only just started! There's still the whole castle—"

"No thanks, James," Hermione said, giving him what she hoped was an apologetic look, "We've got to get our work done."

Of course they had all already finished their homework; they just wanted some time to themselves.

* * *

So the six of them made their way up the staircase leading to the entrance hall and up a few floors. On the spur of the moment Harry decided it was time they discuss their plans for Training.

He ducked into an empty classroom and the others followed.

"Now," he said once the door was securely closed and Imperturbable, "Why don't we start Training tonight?"

"Same time as the D.A.?" asked Neville.

"Same time as the D.A.," Harry confirmed.

At quarter till eight o'clock that night they all met in the common room and started for the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor. Harry had brought his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's map just incase. Fifth years and above could be out of their common rooms until nine o'clock and Harry planned to use the time between now and then to fine-tune their fighting skills a little every night if possible. Before they got to portrait hole however they were hailed from behind.

"Hey guys!" James called across the room, "Where are you going?"

"Just a walk," said Hermione quickly, always on top of things.

"Well then, why don't we all go," James was half out of his chair before he noticed that Lily was smirking at him.

"They don't need you to escort them everywhere Potter," she said scathingly, "From what I've seen in Defense Against the Dark Arts they are perfectly able to protect themselves."

James turned a light shade of magenta.

"Now see here Evans—"

Lily turned and gave Hermione a half-wink and a wave. With that cue the six of them left, leaving behind the arguing voices of Harry's parents.

Ron shook his head in disbelief as they closed the portrait hole behind them.

"I don't know how they ever got together," he said incredulously, "She simply _despises _him."

Harry had thought so too at one time, but had come to know that her mother had actually had feelings for James. Either she was hiding them (and doing a good job of it) or else she didn't know that she had them yet.

They hurried through the corridors until they came to the old tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and the Room of Requirement.

After checking to make sure no one was watching, Harry paced back and forth in front of where the door was and thought over and over:

_We need a place where we can prepare ourselves for the dangers of the future and Voldemort. We need a place to learn complex spells that will cheat his obstacles that guard the horcruxes. We need a place where we can learn to defend ourselves. _

After the third pass a polished door appeared in the while beside him. Harry took a hold of the doorknob and opened it into the room beyond.

Harry had expected the room to turn into the same one it had for the D.A., but he was wrong.

He now looked upon a different room. Like in their previous makeshift classroom there were shelves with books that contained spells, jinxes, and curses. There were also the usual Dark Detectors. But there was also something new; in the middle of the room there lay a pensieve. It looked similar to the one Dumbledore had had in his office; stony, ancient, and mysterious. There was also an adjoining room for dueling and another door in the wall. No one knew what was behind the door because it was locked.

Ginny had gotten over her shock and awe first and had walked across the room to open it; but as she turned the knob and pushed nothing happened. She pushed more firmly with her shoulder, but the door wouldn't budge. She stepped back from the door in puzzlement and shrugged at the others. Hermione tried the door as well, but it still wouldn't open. Needless to say it was a hopeless endeavor.

Luna, who had gone to inspect the pensieve asked, "What's this for?"

Harry had no idea what it was doing in the room but replied all the same.

"It's a pensieve. You put thoughts and memories into it and can see them. I've been in it a few times in Dumbledore's office."

"_In_ it?" asked Neville, intrigued but sounding a little nervous.

"Yes," Harry said, walking over to the magical object, "you just stick your head in and…," he made a slurping sound to emphasize his point, "You're sucked into the memory so you can see and experience it for yourself."

Luna's orb-like eyes widened a fraction and Neville looked even more nervous than before.

"Of course," said Hermione, "It won't hurt you. And it doesn't always do that. You said that when you saw the prophecy a ghostly figure of Trelawney just rose out of the pensieve, right?"

Harry nodded. Neville looked slightly less anxious.

"Come here!" Ginny cried in excitement. She had left to examine the dueling room.

They all hurried over to the door and looked in.

"Whoa!" Ron said in awe.

The room had a high enchanted ceiling that looked like the actual sky.

"But it _is _the real sky," said Hermione, "or an imitation of the sky above us. Look! There's Neptune!"

Sure enough, there was Neptune, right where it should be in early fall.

"And look here!" exclaimed Neville. He was standing behind a tall stone statue. Harry looked about the room and saw that there were objects here and there that they could hide behind when someone cast spells on someone else. Next to him stood a broken down, stone wall barrier and oak bench. A second glance of the room told him that it had once been something of a battleground. The statue Neville was standing behind had an arm broken off which lay a few feet from it next to a tattered tapestry that hung in midair. All the barriers or obstacles were positioned in strategic locations but were all in slight disrepair. Harry walked to a cleared space in the middle of the room and looked around the room again. It seemed as though it had been used many times before.

But by who? That was another question that popped into everybody's heads as they looked at the mysterious new development. Here was a dueling room, that looked like it had been used many times before, but seemed to have been abandoned for quite some time. Whoever had used it had not bothered to repair anything.

"_Reparo!" _Hermione said, waving her wand with the incantation. The tapestry started sowing itself together and the statue's arm lifted itself up and was magically replaced in its owner's socket.

It had been a little disturbing before. But now that things were not in disarray Harry thought the room looked quite nice.

"Here's a light switch!" Luna informed them, flipping on the lights. The stars disappeared and were replaced by an ordinary dark roof.

"And here's another one!" Ron said, switching on another one. The room changed immensely. A bright light emitted from the ceiling, making everyone shield their eyes. Harry squinted under his arm and saw…that he was looking at the sun.

Surprised, Ron flipped the switch the other direction. The sun disappeared and was replaced by a normal ceiling again; this time the lights were on.

"Awesome!" Neville cried, looking about with even more interest.

Harry grinned. The Room of Requirement had met their every need. They now had a place that gave them night and day in a building and seemingly outdoors. But they still didn't have the true outdoors to experience. Oh well, no sense in coveting what they didn't have.

And yet—why not? Hermione had suggested that they go to the Forbidden Forest and practice. Why not? They had been in there many times before; it couldn't be more dangerous in the past could it? I mean, the monsters Hagrid had brought in like Aragog and his other spider mates probably weren't in such great numbers. And Grawp wasn't there either.

Though Grawp had turned into a gentleman after a while, but at first he was a violent giant whose favorite past-time was ripping up twenty foot pine trees.

And then there weren't any enraged centaurs in this day and age either. The centaurs were perfectly peaceful. A little indifferent towards humans maybe, but peaceful all the same. Come to think of it, they could all probably take care of themselves just right in the Forbidden Forest. Werewolves they had dealt with before. And after all the creatures they had met on their quest for the horcruxes, what could be more dangerous?

Still, Harry didn't exactly like the idea of greeting danger with open arms. That would be trusting their luck to foolishness.

But it did seem to have more perks than downfalls…well, maybe later.

"Okay," he said, positioning himself in the middle of the room, "Why don't we start with a little dueling practice, just as a warm up?"

And so they started Training. They went into pairs and then switched partners, dueling for the first half-hour.

After Harry was sure they were ready for something a little more complex, he entered the Studying Room and took out a few books. Hermione riffled through them quickly and found a spell she seemed to like.

"Look at this one," she said, pointing at the page. The others leaned over her shoulder and examined the line she pointed to.

_DEARMO - A mass disarming spell making the user capable of neutralizing a threat from a number of wizards by depriving them of their wands. Please note that this spell may not work on a group of particularly strong wizards and/or witches._

_Say incantation 'dearmo' and make sweeping motion with your wand in the direction of those you wish to disarm. _

"That'll come in handy," Ron mused, peering at the description of the mass disarming spell, "Take out quite a few of the weaker Death Eaters I'm sure, for a moment at least."

"We could summon their wands of course," said Ginny, "After they've fallen to the ground that is."

Harry nodded and then started to wonder.

"How come we haven't learned this one before?" he asked, "We should have been able to do it. I mean, all you say is '_dearmo_' after all."

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Harry," she began exasperatedly, "You've been a wizard now for six years. Haven't you learned anything?"

Harry felt his face getting a little warm, but didn't stop Hermione because he was curious as to the reason why.

Seeing that Harry wouldn't interrupt with his hot-headed-comment that were triggered by his temper, Hermione went on:

"Just like with the _Avada Kadavera Curse_ you can't perform certain spells unless you have enough knowledge or magical ability," she looked around at them all and continued, "This is a more complex spell because, like the killing curse, it takes more energy from you. Get it?"

Harry had never thought of it like that before; spells taking part of your energy and needing a certain amount of power to be used.

Harry looked around at the others and saw that they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Hermione seemed to have seen it too, for she sighed another exasperated sigh and picked up her wand.

"Shall we practice?" she asked, all business.

"Wait, I have another question!" Ron said, a little hesitantly.

"Yes, Ron?" Hermione said as though she were a teacher.

"Well," he said looking a little puzzled, "I have a lot of questions actually. They all have to do with this time-traveling thing and being in the past."

Everyone was quiet. Harry was sure they all had questions, but no one had voiced any as of yet. Now Ron had plucked up the courage to ask about their present situation.

"You know what's bothering me?" asked Ron, "That Sean Thomas guy."

Harry was taken aback, and judging by the other's faces they too were astonished by Ron's seemingly trivial concern.

"He looked almost exactly like Dean!" Ron cried, "But they couldn't be related."

Now Harry understood his friend's feelings. Come to think of it, Sean Thomas _did _look a lot like Dean; Harry had noticed it when he had first seen him!

"Yes they could," Hermione argued. Her answer too was unexpected.

"No they couldn't," said Ginny in dispute, joining in the conversation, "Dean said _both _his parents were muggles. And Sean Thomas is obviously a wizard."

"Maybe he didn't know that his dad was a wizard," Hermione suggested.

"How do you make that out?" said Ron hotly.

"Well," said Hermione, closing the book, "Does Dean live with his mother, father, or both?

"He—" Ron stopped, looking thoughtful, "Now that you mention it, he lives with his mum. His father disappeared I think. Yeah, Dean told me once. Or maybe they got divorced." He added as an afterthought, referring to Dean's parents.

"Mmhm," said Hermione, "You've hit it right on the head Ron."

"Huh?"

"I think it was Voldemort's doing."

"Huh?" The words came again, this time from the mouths of everyone in the room except Hermione.

"What are you talking about?" Neville asked, looking more confused about the conversation than when they had started it.

"Well, from what I've heard it seems Dean's father disappeared around the same time Voldemort was in power," Hermione pointed out, "And, since we now think he is (or _was_) a wizard, and we _know _he's missing, it's only logical to think that Voldemort had him killed for some reason."

"But what reason could that be?" asked Ginny, following the conversation more alertly than Neville.

Hermione frowned, thinking for a moment.

"I suppose…," she said, pausing, "I—it is a bit farfetched I know, but then again maybe not—but I _think _the Death Eaters wanted him to join their ranks."

Ron's mouth dropped open. Luna's eyes went a little wider and Neville sat up a little straighter. Ginny looked grim indeed and Harry frowned slightly.

"It's really not far fetched at all," he said, thinking, "If Thomas was a fairly good wizard I suppose Voldemort would want to have him on his side, wouldn't he?"

The room was silent once more; everyone in his or her own thoughts. Thinking about this made them think about what may be going on in the future.

"I wonder what he's up to right now?" Luna wondered aloud. No one answered. They could all imagine what Voldemort and his followers could be doing at that moment, far away in the future; and it wasn't a happy image.

Harry blinked and forced is thoughts to the back of his head.

"Come on," he said, getting to his feet and picking up his wand, "Let's start practicing that spell."

The rest of the hour was spent practicing the Dearmo Spell. It was harder than Harry had expected, disarming a number of people, and by the time nine o'clock had struck they were all tired but pleased with the nights work; though no one had successfully disarmed everyone in the room yet, but that would come with practice.

They all hurried out of the Room of Requirement and back to the common room. As they approached, the Fat Lady's portrait swung open and Lily and James stepped into the corridor. It seemed they were about to start their rounds.

"Cutting it a little close aren't you?" Lily asked when she saw them. She looked at her watch and said, "It's nine o'clock already, you'd better get into the common room quick before I hand out a detention for all of you."

"C'mon Lily," James said, smiling at the six of them, "They've only just come to Hogwarts. Give them a break."

Lily frowned a little at James and turned back to Harry and his friends.

"All right," she said, glancing in James' direction, "there won't be any detentions _this time_ but I expect you to be in Gryffindor Tower by nine o'clock from now on."

Harry and his friends nodded and shuffled past her into the portrait hole.

As Harry closed the portrait hole he heard Lily say to James, "And I didn't do it because _you _asked, Potter. I gave it to them because, like you said, they're new. Not all of us are as lazy as you, you know." With that she strode briskly away and down the corridor, James on her heels.

**

* * *

A/N: Not quite as exciting as a few killer episodes we've had before but I suppose it's certainly interesting enough. Who liked Lily? Raise your hands and say either "Yay!" or "Nay".**

**Well. I'm glad to have gotten to know James and Lily better. And I hope that some people can take their characters to another level! My parting words are these: Let your imaginations roam and go wherever they may take you!**

**Farewell,**

**-EveningSongEnchantment **


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